Don’t underestimate China

Tags:

Sitting in a taxi on my way from Pudong Airport to downtown Shanghai I thought about my colleague Helena Nordin’s question if China is taking the lead in Green IT. “Fat chance” would have been my spontaneous answer rushing through the dusty polluted air in the run down old VW cab. The taxi driver was (as is typical in China) driving with the pedal to the metal and I’m sitting in the back with no safety belt, (for the simple reason that there is no safety belt) wishing this is not my last moment in life. Suddenly to my right, the magnetic high speed MAGLEV train passes me at a speed of 400 km/h.

“Don’t under estimate China” is a reoccurring thought in mind when listening to the speakers at the International Green Product Business Forum in Shanghai arranged by Ecovane during May 7-8. Europe might be leading the way for the time being but China is very convincing that they have the ability to take the lead. When the Chinese government decides on a direction, things move fast. The obvious proof of that is the unbelievably huge economic transformation China has gone through during the past decades. For obvious reasons there simply is not much room for political debate that can delay the development. Furthermore it seems that the younger generation of Chinese has a great concern for the environment and if there is anything the China government wants to avoid,  it’s  widespread social unrest. So the government is under pressure not only from the west but also at the domestic grass roots level.

 This conference was not aimed exclusively at Green IT but rather industry going green as a whole. Many Chinese companies are making serious efforts to reduce C02 emissions, save energy and minimize environmental impact. However there is a lot left to do and as we all know it’s a global problem that we all need to do something about. I get the impression that my talk about the necessity of third party certification of Green IT was appreciated, judging by the lively discussion following the session.

Helena, to try to answer your question… I’m not sure that China is leading the way right now but before we know it the China Green IT equivalent to the high speed train might pass Europe faster than we expect. The discussion about going green is very much alive in China.