China's Environmental Crisis
Tuesday, 31. July 2007, 14:39:13
Carin Zissis
Council on Foreign Relations
February 9, 2007
Introduction
What has China’s economic boom done to the environment?
What are some of China’s major environmental challenges?
How has the Chinese public responded to the environmental threat?
What has China done to improve the situation?
Is China’s national environmental agency an effective watchdog?
Which government agencies monitor the environment at the local level?
What is the role of local non-governmental organizations?
What role does the international community play in China’s environmental policy?
What is the U.S. position on China’s environmental troubles?
What impact has the 2008 Olympics had on China’s environmental policy?
Introduction
The familiar story of China's economic boom keeps headline writers busy with gross domestic product (GDP) growth hitting 10.7 percent last year. Its booming economy, however, has brought a concurrent environmental crisis. Sixteen of the world's twenty most polluted cities are in China. Beijing's pledge to host a “Green Olympics” in the summer of 2008 signals the country's willingness to address its environmental problems. But with less than two years until the summer games, the country does not look likely to meet its environmental goals.
What has China’s economic boom done to the environment?
China's economy has grown tenfold since 1978, and the focus on development over the environment has led to widespread environmental degradation. “China has gone through an industrialization in the past twenty years that many developing countries needed one hundred years to complete,” says Pan Yue, the deputy director of China's State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), in a report for Germany's Der Spiegel. But Elizabeth C. Economy, a CFR senior fellow and expert on China's environment, says the argument that China is experiencing the same growing pains as any other industrialized nation “fundamentally mischaracterizes” the issue. The "scale and scope of pollution far outpaces what occurred in the United States and Europe” during their industrial revolutions, she says. Moreover, China's environmental woes have hurt its economy. The damage to the ecosystem costs China about 9 percent of its GDP, according to the United Nations Development Program.
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Council on Foreign Relations
February 9, 2007
Introduction
What has China’s economic boom done to the environment?
What are some of China’s major environmental challenges?
How has the Chinese public responded to the environmental threat?
What has China done to improve the situation?
Is China’s national environmental agency an effective watchdog?
Which government agencies monitor the environment at the local level?
What is the role of local non-governmental organizations?
What role does the international community play in China’s environmental policy?
What is the U.S. position on China’s environmental troubles?
What impact has the 2008 Olympics had on China’s environmental policy?
Introduction
The familiar story of China's economic boom keeps headline writers busy with gross domestic product (GDP) growth hitting 10.7 percent last year. Its booming economy, however, has brought a concurrent environmental crisis. Sixteen of the world's twenty most polluted cities are in China. Beijing's pledge to host a “Green Olympics” in the summer of 2008 signals the country's willingness to address its environmental problems. But with less than two years until the summer games, the country does not look likely to meet its environmental goals.
What has China’s economic boom done to the environment?
China's economy has grown tenfold since 1978, and the focus on development over the environment has led to widespread environmental degradation. “China has gone through an industrialization in the past twenty years that many developing countries needed one hundred years to complete,” says Pan Yue, the deputy director of China's State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), in a report for Germany's Der Spiegel. But Elizabeth C. Economy, a CFR senior fellow and expert on China's environment, says the argument that China is experiencing the same growing pains as any other industrialized nation “fundamentally mischaracterizes” the issue. The "scale and scope of pollution far outpaces what occurred in the United States and Europe” during their industrial revolutions, she says. Moreover, China's environmental woes have hurt its economy. The damage to the ecosystem costs China about 9 percent of its GDP, according to the United Nations Development Program.
Read more...
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