Climate change is currently creating discussions, as the yearly UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) conference in December in Copenhagen is approaching. It is hoped that during the conference member states will reach an agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol. A crucial part of the Kyoto protocol for developing nations is CDM, Clean Development Mechanisms.

 

The CDM is an arrangement under the Kyoto Protocol allowing industrialised countries with a greenhouse gas reduction commitment to invest in projects that reduce emissions in developing countries as an alternative to more expensive emission reductions in their own countries. A crucial feature of an approved CDM carbon project is that it has established that the planned reductions would not occur without the additional incentive provided by emission reductions credits, a concept known as "additionality". The CDM allows net global greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced at a much lower global cost by financing emissions reduction projects in developing countries where costs are lower than in industrialised countries.

 

An industrialised country that wishes to get credits from a CDM project must obtain the consent of the developing country hosting the project that the project will contribute to sustainable development. Then, using methodologies approved by the CDM Executive Board (EB), the applicant (the industrialised country) must make the case that the carbon project would not have happened anyway (i.e. establishing additionality), and must establish a baseline estimating the future emissions in absence of the registered project. The case is then validated by a third party agency, called a Designated Operational Entity (DOE), to ensure the project results in real, measurable, and long-term emission reductions. The EB then decides whether or not to approve the project.

 

If a project is registered and implemented, the EB issues credits, called Certified Emission Reductions (CERs, commonly known as carbon credits, where each unit is equivalent to the reduction of one metric tonne of CO2e, e.g. CO2 or its equivalent), to project participants based on the monitored difference between the baseline and the actual emissions, verified by the DOE. As of 1 March 2009, 1431 projects have been approved by the CDM Executive Board. (source: Wikipedia)

 

Over 70% of the approved projects are in Asia and the Pacific (source: www.unfccc.int) which means that a continuing of the CDM is vital for the region. China is currently the top investment destination for projects under the UN's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). (source: www.ieta.org) Priority areas for CDM projects in China are energy efficiency improvement, development and utilization of new and renewable energy, and methane recovery and utilization (source: www.easy-carbon.com).

 

Asian Career is keeping a close eye on the carbon credit and renewable energies sector as they are expected to increase in importance in the Chinese region. We are therefore awaiting decisions from the December conference with interest.

Slowly but surely, the markets seem to bring more and more good news to us. A recent survey shows that 79% of the respondent firms are going to offer pay increase to their staff next year (Apple Daily/RTHK online, 19 October).

 

According to an article in Shenzhen Daily (29 September, online edition), the China job market is improving with the economy seeing a brighter light. China’s economic recovery is creating jobs as hoped, already making up for much of the losses suffered during the downturn.

 

Furthermore, the manufacturing industry seems to be suffering shortage of workers for the upcoming Christmas production (Taipei Times, 12 October online edition). Orders for products, such as Barbie dolls, iPods and designer jeans are high in demand before Christmas and so creating higher production demand. The manufacturing companies are offering workers extra bonuses to recruit enough labour for the Christmas season.

 

Also the financial markets are getting into a better mood. In September, the City University of Hong Kong conducted a survey which shows that 65% of the respondents have plans to recruit in the next three months (The Standard, 14 October). 26% were looking for sales and marketing staff, 18% needed risk management professionals and 22% were in need of information management personnel. 30% of the respondents wanted business intelligence specialists, 20% data management and 23% business process management. The survey came to the conclusion that business intelligence is becoming more essential in the financial sector.  

 

The IT sector is also estimated to bring some 21,000 new jobs in Hong Kong over the next four years (China Daily, 16 October). According to a report by IDC, investments in IT will contribute to the economic recovery and growth. The IT employment rate is forecast to grow 3% per year, which is more than 16 times the rate of growth of total employment in Hong Kong.

 

The consultants at Asian Career feel that the recruitment business is picking up again. Many firms who previously froze their recruitment activities have resumed this and are now asking for new candidates. Asian Career has been working strategically during the past few months on building a very strong candidate database and is now prepared to respond even faster to their clients’ requests.   

 

Mona Yim, Executive Director at Asian Career says that especially those firms who have strong foothold or those who are seeking growth in the mainland market will recap faster than others. ‘We have seen a recent recruitment increase especially in companies that use the strong economy on the mainland for growth’, she concludes.