“If we cannot measure, we cannot manage” – Managing global climate change is a data-driven decision process. However, when dealing with emission mitigation on the demand side particularly in the urban development and construction sector, we often fail to quantify and effectively measure the emission reduction effects of decisions, hence rendering any climate actions a “shot in the dark.” Ove the last decade, Chinese cities have been initiating, implementing and testing the impacts of specific urban planning and design interventions through the urban development process. Recently, quantification tools and primary project research have started to emerge to quantify the impacts of a range of actions on striving to carbon neutrality. These demand side interventions include spatial planning parameters such as transport oriented development TOD, non-motorized transport mode, street gird densities, compact urban forms, green spaces as well as Green Buildings and infrastructure, urban renewable energy and low carbon municipal services. What can we learn from these valuable experiences? Over the last 16 months, I have been tasked to lead a team in Beijing, supported by the Energy Foundation, to research on and summarize all these experience and quantitative studies in Chinese cities over last decade into one single book to […]

Dr. Stanley Yip, CEO of G1X, was invited to speak as the keynote speaker at the 5the Jiangsu-Canada Green and Low Carbon Development Conference (17 November 2025) in the beautiful City of Wuxi which is located next ti the famous Yang Cheng Lake (where the best hairy crabs in the world are harvested) in Jiangsu Province China. The conference was organised by the Jiangsu Green Building Association and supported by Canada Wood and the Provincial Government of Jiangsu, and also attended by the General Consulate of the Government of Canada. I spoke on the latest developments of the international voluntary carbon markets VCM, and the opportunities as well as challenges to the building and construction industry in China and Asia. Dr, Yip emphasised that along the whole life cycle of the building industry from material to construction to operation, there are fast emerging opportunities in the global carbon finance markets. Yet the industry must need to bring in AI data technologies, innovative business models and collaboration along the value chain. The talk was well revived and is highly relevant at this time when the Chinese government has just announced the implementation of more than 100 national level low carbon industrial […]

Dr Stanley Yip, CEO of G1X, was invited to visit for an expert exchange program at the Beijing Municipal Forestry and Parks Bureau (BMFPB) from 27 to 29 October. Dr Yip chaired a cross sector workshop to explore the collaboration on “The use of AI data analytics in developing an early climate risk warning system to support the climate adaptation of old neighbourhoods in the City of Beijing”. Old neighbourhoods in Beijing are facing climate hazards of increasing strong wind and rain flood events. The workshop iexplored the joint effort to set up a meteorological data driven warning system, backed up by machine learning models plus the use of nature based solutions (NBS) at street block level to mitigate the potential damages to buildings and injuries to residents in these vulnerable communities. Dr Yip was tasked by the joint team to prepare the project proposal supported by the Bureau. He also had the opportunity to have a tour at the Bureau’s research institute (Beijing Academy of Forestry ) which is housed on 170 ha of beautiful landscape, tree nurseries and national ecological monitoring stations.