New China-US Low Carbon Development Program  

The first-of-its kind creative initiative and significant effort by the Government of China, for new non governmental cooperation between China and the U.S. on sustainable low carbon development has been announced. The National Center For Sustainable Development (“NCSD”) headquartered in Washington, DC initiated a groundbreaking commitment to launch the China-U.S. Low Carbon Development Cooperation Program – exemplifying its expanded new mission objective and its next generation of innovative and sustainable low carbon development initiatives.

“The NCSD works at the intersection of today’s global opportunity of shifting to sustainable development: for the benefit of America’s economic and job generating future all in the context of environmental responsibility. The low carbon future is prosperous: bright and green.”

As a first step in demonstrating the commitment of both parties to the Program, on November 10, 2009 the Board of Trustees of the NCSD welcomed Mr. Chen Huan, Deputy Director General of the China CDM Fund Management Center (“CDMF”), Ministry of Finance (“MOF”) of China and Dr. Wen Gang, Deputy Director of Research and Development Department of the CDMF, to join in guiding and managing the Program. The Chinese officials involvement is believed to be unique among collaborative efforts of Chinese and American non-governmental entities.

The launch and implementation of the Program is in keeping with the NCSD’s mission in fostering sustainable development. NCSD accomplishes its mission through the promotion of pollution abatement demonstration projects that guide the way for public and commercial efforts at innovative policies and practices. The objectives to be demonstrated are to improve communities globally with examples of sustainable low carbon development and the sponsorship of relevant comparative studies on policy, demonstration and scale-up of investment projects.

NCSD maintains that, “the lack of appropriate financing tools, both market-based mechanisms and financial instruments, hinder new technologies from deployment in the marketplace related to energy savings, energy efficiency, renewable energy and other kinds of climate-friendly actions,” said NCSD President Mitchell Stanley.

As a cornerstone to the announcement, the organization is preparing to launch the first-of-its-kind series of studies on comparative China-U.S. policies, as well as comparative financial market mechanisms and instruments to examine the overall cost effectiveness of meeting the enormous investment demand that will be required to approach and achieve sustainable investment in and progress for low carbon development.

“A collaboration between the world’s big producers of carbon emissions, China and the U.S., will create an environment where low carbon, clean-energy technologies and investments can thrive,” commented Damian Omar Valdez, President of Evolution Capital Management, Inc., one of the founding partners of the China-U.S. Low Carbon Development Cooperation Program and a Trustee of the NCSD. “While the Chinese and US governments, along with private investors, are pursuing all sorts of low carbon, clean-energy technologies, and financial market mechanisms, they cannot achieve separately what they could jointly with advances in low carbon, clean-energy technologies and innovative approaches to green finance, that deliver benefits for the whole world,” added Valdez.

“The time for this work has never been more urgent,” said Mitchell Stanley, President of the NCSD. “The NCSD works at the intersection of today’s global opportunity of shifting to sustainable development: for the benefit of America’s economic and job generating future all in the context of environmental responsibility. The low carbon future is prosperous: bright and green.”

“China CDM Fund was created by Government of China and will act as an innovative financial and action mechanism for addressing climate change. It is an unprecedented case in the world and shows great importance to international cooperation. Working with global partners, the China CDM Fund Management Center will promote Chinese policies and actions on climate change in the world, and meanwhile, introduce advanced development concepts, approaches and technologies into China for its better and faster development. Jointly establishing the China-U.S. Low Carbon Development Cooperation Program with the National Center for Sustainable Development will serve this purpose,” said Mr. Chen Huan, Deputy Director General, CDMF.