Procurement

The Chinese city of Dalian, a major seaport in the northeast province of Liaoning province, has opened the country’s first “Renewable Resources Market,” at the Dalian High-tech Industrial Zone, according to a report in the China Daily.

US-based global retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc has given its suppliers five years to comply with its environmental rules or risk being pushed off its shelves. The new requirements, announced in China where Wal-Mart has more than 20,000 suppliers, will compel them to improve on energy efficiency, waste reduction and other markers on the retailer’s checklist. Wal-Mart said the checklist, introduced in 2009, was voluntary. But if suppliers fall short, they could be cut off from the discount stores wholesale warehouses that the company operates in the United States.

New talks between the Malaysian Government and Bank Negara Malaysia, the central bank, are being touted in order to speed up the distribution of green loans to businesses.

The Asian Development Bank has announced the inclusion of Chinese renminbi and Indian rupees under its Trade Finance Program (TFP).While the move is expected to benefit all businesses, the clean and green tech sectors may find it boosts their sectors disproportionately.The currencies' inclusion will boost intra-regional trade under the TFP. The scheme run by the bank fills market gaps for trade finance by providing guarantees and loans to local banks to support it.

Japan has found a large deposit of rare earth minerals in its Pacific seabed, enough to supply its hi-tech industries for more than 200 years, a scientist said Friday.

A new international initiative to fast track a global transition to a green economy by harnessing the market-shifting power of government and local authority spending was announced by UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and partners at the Rio+20 Earth Summit yesterday. Supported by more than 30 governments and institutions, the International Sustainable Public Procurement Initiative (SPPI) aims to scale-up the level of public spending flowing into goods and services that maximize environmental and social benefits. Studies indicate that public procurement, which represents between 15 and 25 per cent of GDP, represents a tremendous opportunity to stimulate green innovation and sustainability.

China on Wednesday issued a white paper on its rare earth industry, the first of its kind in the country, as the world's largest rare earth producer strives to better protect the valuable resources.

China will accelerate the industrialization of its renewable resources to foster a new industry with strategic significance, said Xie Zhenhua, vice minister of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on Friday.

KFC has denied made by Greenpeace this week that it sells its chicken in buckets produced by controversial paper supplier Asia Pulp and Paper (APP).