Kevin ’25 looks to increase environmental awareness in his hometown.
Noticing a lack of activism and environmental awareness in my hometown in Shenzhen, China, I decided to increase climate awareness with a website. I originally wanted to post content related to local activities such as volunteering projects and public events. However, getting enough traffic on the website was a problem. I attempted to work with local philanthropy and social organizations but none were interested in spreading climate awareness and were more focused on other issues such as health. I realized I have to find an incentive for engagement.
After researching local climate policies, I found subsidies and incentives that encourage environmental responsibility, such as environmental liability insurance, non-compulsory environmental certification, pollution cleanup subsidies, and solar panel subsidies. To get in contact with companies who may be interested, I created a survey with questions related to both environmental awareness and local policies. For example, questions include the target year for carbon peak and carbon neutrality, as well as how to apply for subsidies and the effectiveness of the subsidies’ advertisement. I was able to learn about both general awareness and identify potential helpful incentives for companies. After publishing the survey and reaching out to companies, I received responses from over ten companies thanking the research and information on the funds and subsidies. Now, I am visiting some of the companies to present and discuss climate policies and subsidies that might benefit the company. Overall, the subsidies got their audience, the companies learned about incentives and the carbon-neutral certification process, and I advocated for environmental responsibility and the importance of carbon neutrality.