At a UN oceans summit, delegates from China, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines said they would work to keep plastics out of the seas. It is estimated that 5-13 million tons of plastics flow into the world's oceans annually. The Helmholtz Centre in Leipzig, Germany, estimated that 75% of land-borne marine pollution comes from just 10 rivers, predominantly in Asia.

Sungrow Power Supply Co. has built the world’s largest floating solar farm, with 166,000 panels on a lake created when a nearby mine collapsed. The scale of the project is another example of how China hopes to be the world's global leader in the environment. The country plans to spend $360 billion on renewable energy by 2020. By the end of September, Sungrow will complete more than 150 megawatts of new floating capacity.

China has stepped up its efforts to keep the Paris agreement in place following the U.S. withdrawal. The EU and China issued a joint statement underscoring their commitments to the Paris accord to combat climate change. China pledged to bring its carbon emissions to a peak by 2030 or earlier as part of a joint pledge made with the U.S. ahead of the 2015 Paris talks. A U.S. withdrawal puts less pressure on China to bring its emissions peak earlier, but in recent years China has sought to dominate the clean energy market.

Chinese and EU officials have agreed to meet in June to talk about trade protectionism and action on climate change. The intention of the meeting is to advance their support for the Paris Agreement in hopes of convincing the Trump Administration not to withdraw from the climate deal. In addition, China is hoping to have the European Union take on a leadership role on climate change. For the full story, see http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-eu-china-idUKKBN1871M4. 

Increased sales of hybrid vehicles and improvements in vehicle efficiency are already cutting the demand for gasoline. But China and India are going further, taking radical measures in their efforts to reduce carbon emissions from their transportation sectors. China wants 7 million alternative fuel vehicles sold in the country every year by 2025; India is promoting having all vehicles on the road electrified by 2032. Currently electric vehicles comprise 2% of the “global car fleet,” but these two regulations will help increase their market share.

China and the European Space Agency are discussing a potential collaboration on a human outpost on the moon and other possible joint endeavors. The secretary general for China's space agency, Tian Yulong, first disclosed the talks about the envisioned lunar base in Chinese state media. Last week the China National Space Administration launched an unmanned spacecraft on a mission to dock with its currently unoccupied space station.

Although Shanghai has been successful in some environmental protection efforts, the city is lagging behind significantly in its efforts to improve environmental quality. A month-long investigation by the Ministry of Environmental Protection found that garbage was being dumped illegally; approximately a third of the city’s water was unfit for either farm or industrial use; and the city has delayed improvements to its sewage and wastewater treatment.

Last week, China announced its intent to limit coal production during the warmer months as part of the country’s efforts to tackle air pollution. Now, in order to cut smog during the colder months, Beijing has ordered steel producers, aluminum producers, and pesticides manufacturers to cut their production partially or completely in the winter.

The Chinese government continues to pursue its goal of reducing the country’s coal-power capacity. Last week the government announced considerations for what would be its third “major shift in policy” to move the country toward renewable energy: limiting the amount of coal that can be mined. In April 2016, the government capped the number of days a mine can operate in an attempt to reduce the supply of coal.

In response to increasing incidents of heavy smog, China has vowed to further accelerate its move away from coal, committing to reduce coal consumption an additional 30% in 2017 (compared to its original plan for 2017). The new plan will bring Beijing’s coal use to fewer than 7 million metric tons by next January. In addition, the government plans to have zero coal use in six districts by the end of the year, and Beijing plans to remove 300,000 fuel-inefficient vehicles from use this year in order to promote more fuel-efficient cars and improve fuel standards.