The Institute's Mayors Training Program hosted 21 Tianjin officials for two weeks of sustainability training in the United States. In Chicago, the delegation heard from former mayors of dynamic American cities, architect Jeanne Gang, and others. The officials continued to Los Angeles, where they toured the port.
A new Institute report argues China's northern Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region would be ideal for a renewable energy pilot that would integrate wind energy more efficiently onto the grid, The report points out that both Germany and the state of Texas have reduced wasted wind energy, or curtailment, from as much as 17 percent to 1 percent (China reached 15 percent in 2015). From 2011-2015, wasted wind power cost China's energy sector RMB 51 billion and resulted in the unnecessary use of 430 million tons of coal.
The Paulson Institute/CCIEE CEO Council for Sustainable Urbanization held its second working-level meeting to continue collaboration on projects that aim to be models for sustainable business and advance China's drive toward a low-carbon economy. At Vanke's super-green headquarters in Shenzhen, representatives from all 18 member companies focused on energy-efficient buildings, green supply chains, electric vehicles, and strategies to raise public awareness of sustainability.
China should move forward with market reforms in order to address challenges facing its exchange rate regime, argues former PBOC official Guan Tao in a new Paulson Policy Memorandum. Despite an August 2015 decision aimed at improving transparency in the RMB exchange rate valuation process, China’s currency regime is caught between market expectations of depreciation and a political mandate to stabilize the exchange rate amid economic uncertainty.
The Institute co-hosted the second annual meeting of the China Coastal Wetland Conservation Network in June, convening some 200 experts to discuss climate change and coastal wetlands. Jointly organized with the State Forestry Administration of China, the event brought together wetland managers from China’s 11 coastal provinces and experts from across China to focus on adaptive management of coastal wetlands and enhanced carbon sequestration in wetlands to mitigate climate change. The network aims to promote best practices in wetlands management and raise awareness of officials at various levels on coastal wetlands conservation and management.
China's services sector now accounts for more than 50 percent of the country's GDP—a seemingly positive development in the government's effort to move away from heavy industry and cheap exports. But a new Paulson Institute Policy Memorandum by Senior Fellow Andrew Batson points out that finance and real estate account for a large portion of the service sector gains, making the ostensible shift less sustainable than it should be. In an interview, Batson, who is director of China research at the independent research firm Gavekal Dragonomics, argues that targets might be the answer to promoting more productive services such as education, entertainment, and tourism.
Following the release of the Institute's Coastal Wetland Conversation Blueprint last October, Chairman Hank Paulson wrote letters to top officials of six coastal provinces, outlining the report’s results for each province and encouraging wetlands protection. Local leaders have responded with action: Jiangsu held a meeting in May to incorporate wetlands conservation into economic plans and set up a nature preserve for the near-extinct spoon-billed sandpiper. And Tianjin signed an agreement with the State Forestry Administration and the Paulson Institute to protect the Beidagang wetland. A new synopsis of the Blueprint, published by the Institute, brings the most important findings to a broader audience.
A new Paulson Institute animated video highlights how Beijing and Zhangjiakou, which will co-host the 2022 Winter Olympics, can better coordinate their renewable energy plans to achieve a truly "green" Olympics. Zhangjiakou has abundant wind energy resources but currently wastes a large amount of the energy due to uncoordinated planning: much of the wind energy is not integrated onto the grid. Beijing, meanwhile, aims to expand its electric vehicle use—but for now isn't sufficiently accessing renewable energy from the North. The animation points out that for a greener future, China can link clean energy from Zhangjiakou to power Beijing's planned 600,000 electric cars by 2020.
保尔森基金会2016年市长培训项目邀请了天津市21位政府官员在美国参加为期两周的可持续发展高级研究班。代表团在芝加哥听取了美国四位前市长的发展经验，并与建筑大师珍妮·甘及其他专家交流。结束在芝加哥的学习后，代表团前往洛杉矶，在洛杉矶港口进行了参观考察。
保尔森基金会的最新研究报告《风光无“限”》称，京津冀地区是设立可再生能源并网试点区以提升风力并网效率的理想地点。报告指出，德国和美国德克萨斯州都减少了弃风，将弃风率从17%降低至1%（中国弃风率于2015年降至15%）。2011-2015年，中国弃风限电导致的电费损失达510亿元人民币，相当于烧掉原煤4.3亿吨。
由保尔森基金会与中国国际经济交流中心合作发起的可持续城镇化CEO理事会举办了第二次工作会议，旨在推进项目合作，为可持续业务建立模型并助力中国低碳经济转型。会议在万科深圳总部这栋绿色建筑举行，18个成员企业的代表重点讨论了节能建筑、绿色供应链、工厂效率和增强公众可持续意识的宣传策略。
在最新发布的保尔森基金会政策备忘录中，中国银行外汇局原司长管涛表示中国应该进一步推动人民币汇率市场化改革，以应对汇率挑战。尽管中国人民银行于2015年8月宣布完善人民币兑美元汇率中间价报价机制以提高透明度，但人民币汇率面临经济不确定性，在市场贬值预期与稳定汇率的政治需要之间摇摆不定。
6月22日，保尔森基金会在深圳联合主办了“2016年中国沿海湿地保护网络年会暨湿地保护培训班”，召集200多位专家讨论气候变化与沿海湿地等问题。此次活动由基金会与国家林业局湿地保护管理中心和广东省林业厅联合主办，来自中国沿海11个省（区、市）的湿地管理人士与各界专家参加了本次会议，会议围绕沿海湿地适应性管理通过加强滨海湿地的碳汇功能来缓解气候变化等核心问题展开讨论。中国沿海湿地保护网络旨在推广湿地管理的最佳实践，并提高各级政府官员的沿海湿地保护与管理意识。
中国的服务业GDP占比超过50%，正努力摆脱对重工业和廉价出口的依赖。对政府来说，这似乎是积极的发展势头。但是在最新发布的保尔森基金会政策备忘录中，保尔森基金会智库高级研究员白安儒指出，金融和房地产在服务业增量中也占到了较大一部分，制约了服务型经济转型的可持续发展。作为独立研究机构佳富龙洲经济的中国研究主管，白安儒在一次采访中表示，设立公开可量化的目标或许可以解决问题，促进更多高生产率服务活动的发展，如教育、娱乐业和旅游业。
2015年10月发布滨海湿地保护蓝图之后，保尔森基金会主席保尔森致信六个沿海省市的高层领导，为他们介绍报告成果，并鼓励他们保护湿地。地方领导用行动给出了回应：江苏省在5月举办会议，将保护湿地纳入经济规划中，并为濒危物种勺嘴鹬设立自然保护区；天津市与国家林业局、保尔森基金会签署保护北大港湿地的协议。保尔森基金会发布《中国滨海湿地保护管理战略研究项目》最新报告，将项目重要发现呈现给大众。
保尔森基金会发布一则动画短片，描绘了2022年冬奥会举办城市北京和张家口协调可再生能源发展规划以实现绿色奥运的理想图景。张家口风力资源丰富，但目前仍有大量能源因不合理的规划而被浪费：大量风能未能并网发电。同时，北京计划扩大电动汽车容量并推广其使用，但目前无法从北方地区获得充足的可再生能源。动画短片指出为了实现绿色未来，中国可以用张家口的清洁能源为北京的电动汽车充电，预计2020年时北京电动汽车将达60万辆。
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