China and Environment

China’s Environment: History, Problems and Solutions

The growth of China, with twenty years of Historically, rapid growth has produced environmental destruction. China is no exception. Because of its huge and growing population, 20 years of over nine per cent per annum growth, a history of neglect and adverse geography, China faces crises. China has a reputation throughout the world for being a country with large amounts of pollution and environmental degradation. Like many Western nations, China’s environmental impact became most prevalent as the country became increasingly industrialized. The policies of Mao Zedong led the Chinese to believe dominion over nature was not only possible, but essential in China’s rise to global prominence. The reform period of rapid economic growth also resulted in rapid environmental depletion.

Currently China is the largest emitter of green house gasses in the world .

As it currently stands, China’s rapid economic growth and development has come at a large cost the environment. GROWTH STAT HERE China is faced with heavy amounts air pollution, water pollution, water scarcity, deforestation and desertification. Given the secretive nature of the Chinese Government, it is difficult to determine the actual amount of environmental damage done, but even the most conservative estimates indicate that parts of China are among the most polluted in the world.

Roots of Environmental Degradation When tracing the routes of China’s environmental problems, it is important to reflect on the era when the China was ruled by Mao Zedong. The leadership of Mao and the radical policies which were instituted can be seen as the beginning of large-scale environmental problems in China. Perhaps the best example of policy which negatively affected the environment was Mao’s Great Leap Forward. The Great Leap Forward was Mao’s grandiose plan to transform China from an agrarian society to an industrial society. An integral part of the Great Leap Forward was the idea of the People’s Commune. Although they were intended to increase overall grain production, “their highly coordinated efforts to transform nature often led instead to the degradation of arable lands” Mao hoped to increase China's agricultural output. He relied, however, on nonsensical Soviet farming ideas, such as planting crops very close together so that they could support one another, and plowing up to six feet deep to encourage root growth. Mao also encouraged the use of backyard smelters to create steel in an effort to increase steel production. Mao’s policies encouraged Chinese domination of nature. Mao made nature into the enemy, and exclaimed, “Man must conquer nature.” Nature was a “great enemy, to be conquered and forced to yield grain in a rapid agricultural transformation.” Over just a few years, the Great Leap Forward caused massive environmental damage in China. The backyard steel production plan resulted in entire forests being burned to fuel the smelters, which left the land open to erosion. Dense cropping and deep ploughing stripped the farmland and left if vulnerable, as well. Although Mao’s intent was to increase overall production, the Great Leap Forward disrupted the ecological balance of many of China’s agricultural regions and resulted in a terrible famine which killed millions. Mao’s environmental domination continued in events like the Cultural Revolution of 1966-1977, which is often thought of in terms of it’s cultural rather than environmental effects. . The Cultural Revolution is best known for its political excesses and purging of intellectuals. This event is lesser known for the ecological transformations that resulted from orders to fill lakes and plow grasslands in order to make more land available for grain production. (Pressures of Industry) Complementary to policies like the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, Mao’s strong anti-rightest sentiments led to the silencing of intellectuals, many of whom were aware of the negative environmental impact governmental policies were having. There were people who were calling Mao’s practices into question and demonstrating the negative environmental ramifications. Like anyone expressing dissenting opinions to Mao, these people were silenced. His general disdain for intellectuals led Mao to institute reforms which went against natural laws of the Earth. “In Maoist China, lack of freedom of speech and of intellectual inquiry had grave consequences for the human relationship with nature.” Under Deng Xiaoping, China began to focus attention on environmental concerns with increased investment in environmental management, but the central government’s first priority undoubtedly remained economic expansion. Whereas Mao believed nature was something to be dominated, Deng understood that a balance was necessary. Although Deng’s policies were not as deliberately harmful to the environment, rapid economic growth comes at a cost to the environment. From the reform period to the present, China has experienced unprecedented growth while making efforts to protect the environment. Despite these reforms, environmental degradation is rampant and still a pressing issue in China.

“Under the reforms, despite the high priority assigned to environmental issues, the impressive promulgation of environmental laws and regulations, and the integration of “sustainable development” goals into national planning, China’s environmental difficulties have increased severely. Environmental measures have not kept pace with rapid economic growth, continuing population pressures, and rising consumer expectations.”

Air Pollution

Perhaps the most well known environmental issue in China is the significant amount of air pollution which plagues many parts of the country. It became well-known that China was making efforts to lower pollutants in the air prior to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. In YEAR, a device which monitors particulate matter in the air was installed outside the US Embassy in Beijing. These readings were transmitted to a webpage daily which would display the information. Whereas most countries consider levels above WHAT to be harmful, Beijing had days which read as much as 500 out of 500 on the particulate matter meter. Zhong Nanshan, the outspoken doctor who helped unveil the SARS cover-up in China, recently said “"Air pollution is getting worse and worse in China, but the government data showed it was getting better and better. People don't believe that. Now we know it's because they didn't measure some pollutants. If the government neglects this matter, it will be the biggest health problem facing China." (guardian UK). Although Zhong’s claims may seem a bit extreme, a look at the air pollution levels and associated health impacts show there is more than enough evidence to raise concern. Currently, the World Bank estimates that 400,000 people in China die each year from air pollution-related illnesses, mainly from lung and heart diseases. These statistics indicate that about a quarter of these deaths came from indoor pollution, while the remaining 300,000 came from outdoor pollution. (CITE) The primary cause for air pollution is China’s dependence on coal power. Outdoor pollution in China is mainly generated by coal-fired power plants, China's main source of energy . As many developed nations have begun to move away from coal and seek alternatives, China continues to use coal as its primary source of energy and is showing no signs of slowing down. Coal accounts for 70% of China’s energy consumption. In fact China’s coal consumption increased by 9.7% in 2011, the most year-over-year growth seen since 2005.(CITE) A new coal factory is built every two weeks in China and the use of coal power shows no signs of slowing down.

Coal has also been a primary culprit for the increased incidence of acid rain in China.

It is also important to note that China’s dependence on oil is rapidly increasing as China develops and more people have access to automobiles. The rapid growth of car ownership by central, provincial and local government ministries and departments, companies and families will inevitably add to the problems, even if the newer cars are environmentally superior. Most of Beijing’s air pollution today is caused by cars and China is seeing increasing amounts of green house gas emissions coming from automobiles. HOW MUCH Not only does air pollution pose a threat to the well being of humans, but also has effects which reverberate in the environment. Recent calculations suggest that regional atmospheric haze in China is currently depressing optimal yields of 70 per cent of the crops grown. Alasdair Macbean.

Water Pollution

As air pollution presents a dire problem in China, water pollution poses an equally important threat to the Chinese. Like air pollution is attributed with mortality, the World Health Organization estimates that nearly 100,00 people die annually from water pollution-related illness. Further, 75% of disease in China is linked to poor water quality. CITE A recent study by the Chinese Government showed that WHAT percent of China’s rivers and lakes were unsafe for human contact. The primary cause of this pollution is the lack, or inconsistency, of regulation throughout the country. Nearly 80 percent of China’s cities have no sewage treatment facilities and 90 percent of household sewage is dumped into water sources without treatment. Studies indicate that 90 percent of underground water supplies in urban areas is contaminated. Even when water treatment facilities are constructed, they are often left unused due to the high cost of operation. Further, the high cost of treating water the “right way” often leads to shortcuts and further pollution. According to Chinese environmentalist NAME HERE, “Hundreds of sewage plants have been built around China, but we haven’t seen our water getting cleaner. We have more than 600 records of violations by sewage plants discharging above standards or simply not treating it at all or properly disposing of the sludge.” In addition to the lack of treatment for residential sewage, industrial waste accounts for a large amount of China’s water pollution. About one-third of industrial waste water is dumped into rivers and lakes without being treated. The largest industrial polluters include chemical factories, drug manufactures, fertilizer makers, and paper mills. This issue came to the forefront of Chinese and global media in 2005 after a large petrochemical spill The increasing prevalence of “cancer villages” in China is indicative of how bad the water pollution problem is. A cancer village is a term use to describe villages or towns where cancer rates have risen due to the villages proximity to heavily polluted water. Death rates in these heavily polluted areas is sometimes 30 percent higher than average.

Water Scarcity

Coupled with the issue of water pollution is the issue of water scarcity. As increasingly large amounts of water are too polluted for human consumption, there is also a serious lack of useable water in China. While water pollution is a problem throughout the country, the water scarcity issue is most pressing in the North. Currently, China supports 20 percent of the worlds population with only 7 percent of the worlds usable water. Additionally, nearly 42 percent of China’s population resides on the North China Plain, which possesses only 8 percent of China’s water resources. With such scarce amounts of water available, this is a much more pressing issue for the North than the South, but will be a nation-wide issue if not dealt with. The Chinese government has classified 300 of 668 large cities as short of water. with 60 being labeled “critically short” of water resources. (Todd Hofstedt) The water available for each person in China is one forth the global average and this portion is expected to shrink to one-fifth as the population grows. China’s water shortage problems are caused by over use and pollution and lots of people living in places that don't have much water. Because of the large amounts of pollution from untreated sewage and waste, nearly one-fourth of Chinese people lack access to clean drinking water, over 70 percent of lakes and rivers are polluted, and pollution accidents happen on a near daily basis It is estimated that every year China has a water supply shortfall of 40 billion cubic meters. In other words each year China uses 40 billion cubic meters of water —five to seven times the amount used in Southern California— more than its resources can sustain. Water shortages are most severe in northern China. It is estimated that 400,000 people are displaced from their homes each year due to water scarcity. Large amounts of once fertile farmland have been turned into dust-bowls leaving people without any means of subsistence. As irrigatable lands are dwindling and the industrial demand increases, the water scarcity problem appears to be getting worse. Given these statistics, it is clear that China will one day run into a serious problem if this issue is not addressed. The World Bank warns of “catastrophic consequences for future generations” caused by water shortages in China.

Deforestation and Grassland Degradation

The rapid growth of the reform era in the 1970‘s saw a rapid acceleration in logging to meet demands for factory materials and construction. By the mid-1990s officials reported that 25 of China’s 140 forest bureaus had exhausted their reserves and 61 reported that their trees were being felled at unsustainable rates. MacBean. Between the mid 1990s and mid 2000s China went from being a country that imported much of its wood products to one of the world’s leading exporters of furniture, plywood and flooring. China is also a leading consumer of paper. These high demands for exported goods made from wood have fueled China’s incessant logging and rapid deforestation. China’s forest coverage is now well below the world average. Although reforms have been put in place to limit logging and its subsequent deforestation, illegal logging is a widespread and lucrative practice. Deforestation and the subsequent erosion has been blamed for a multitude of floods throughout the nation which have resulted in billions of dollars in damage. China’s grasslands have also been seriously depleted. Since the 1950s the process has been accelerated as land was switched to irrigated rice cultivation, and degraded by over-cropping, largely due to policies like Mao’s Great Leap Forward. Since 1950 the grasslands have declined in area by between 30 and 50 per cent and much of what is left has been degraded by intensive grazing, and technology-intensive cultivation for forage and fodder. Reports from China’s State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) show no improvement. Economy 65. The effects within China from deforestation and grasslands degradation are shortages of wood, loss of biodiversity, soil erosion, dust storms, silting of rivers, flooding and changes to local climates. Perhaps the most significant effect of deforestation and grassland degradation can be seen in the widespread desertification throughout China. Once arid areas have been turned into unusable desert land. A quarter of China’s land is degraded or lost to sand due to a naturally dry climate, decades of over-cultivation and excessive demands on limited water. Deforestation and grassland degradation also have detrimental effects which go well beyond China’s borders. “Globally, the loss of forests contributes to global warming both from the release of carbon dioxide from felled trees and loss of their capacity as a carbon sink. Dust storms, that are partly due to the loss of trees and grasslands, cross borders and affect neighboring countries” MacBean

China’s Environmental Policy and Regulation

China began implementation of a number of environmental policies in the 1970s with the number of regulations steadily increasing. (CITE). In 1975, the first environmental protection laws were issued with half the laws dealing with nature and pollution, and the other half dealing with the governments role in enforcement, propaganda and procedures. Since the reform period of Deng, the government has incorporated environmental concerns since the very beginning. The Chinese government has included environmental goals in its five-year plans from 1980 onwards. According to the government, they protect and improve the living environment and the ecological environment. The 1980s saw significant efforts being made to coordinate environmental policies throughout the country and increasing amounts of money have been spent on environmental issues. The fundamental basis for laws on the environment rests in the 1989 Environmental Protection Law which loosely defined environmental protection and relegated duties among the government agencies for environmental stewardship.

The main regulatory agency that deals with environment on the national level is the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) at that time. It has been given the duties of developing national policies and laws for environmental protection, supervising the utilization activities of natural resources that impact ecological environment, and investigating and handling major environmental pollution accidents and ecological damage cases. On the provincial and local (township and county) levels, Environmental Protection Bureaus (EPBs) are responsible for enforcing compliance with national environmental laws and regulations within their jurisdiction. EPBs form part of local governments, and their duties for environmental protection include drafting local laws, issuing administrative regulations, carrying out environmental monitoring and control, and providing education and training on environmental issues

As there have been large amounts of environmental legislation enacted, environmental protection bodies have been created and expanded within the government. To an outsider, it would appear that China has made great strides in enacting environmental legislation. There has been an annual increase of environmental protection personnel and monitoring bodies. Further, an environmental enforcement system is under construction and revisions to the 1989 Environmental Protection Law are being implemented.

Solutions

Despite large amounts of environmental legislation that is stricter than many western nations on paper, China’s environmental problems persist and appear to be worsening. Esteemed Peking University Law Professor Wang Jin believes China’s environmental laws have been ineffective due to an incomplete and flawed legal system, poorly crafted legislation and contradictory legislation. Definitions within the Chinese legal system are vague, and people who pollute which results in detrimental effects to humans are not considered criminals. Environmental legislation is often far from comprehensive, with many aspects left out. Further, there are often “exceptions” in Chinese legislation. For example, a cap may be set on emissions but certain businesses are able to buy their way out of these limitations, thereby having free reign on the amount of pollution they produce. Until China’s legal system is altered in a fashion that will be conducive to comprehensive legislation.

It is difficult to accurately assess

Although these environmental regulations have been put into place and large amounts of money has been invested, economic development still trumps environmental protection in most instances. Many of these laws are circumvented or ignored in order to obtain larger profits and greater growth. Implementation throughout China has been erratic at best and there is little accountability in terms of enforcement of laws.

TRANSPARENCY

The lack of non-governmental organizations to promote environmentalism is a reason why there is not widespread concern and outrage over China’s current environmental state. Most developed nations with comprehensive environmental laws often got their start from grass roots organizers and non-governmental organizations. While the grassroots environmental movement in China is miniscule compared to other developed nations, some do exist. Groups like Friends of Nature and the Global Village Environmental Culture Institute of Beijing focus on education and volunteerism and inform people about environmental protection. Student groups are also slowly starting to promote environmentalism, but it is difficult when China’s government suppresses non-official government organizations.

The importance of these non-governmental organizations in bringing environmental reform can not be underestimated. In Western nations, non-governmental organizations have proved as essential aspects of informing citizens of environmental issues, lobbying for protections, publicizing violations and holding industry and government alike accountable. CITE China has seen widespread suppression of grass root and non governmental organizations, thereby leaving the environmental bureaucracy weak, poorly equipped and citizens unable to mobilize. The government’s strict controls over the internet and other media make it difficult for ideas to be spread and a strong environmental movement to develop. It will be difficult to arise popular sentiment about environmentalism unless these controls are lifted and Chinese citizens are able to attain accurate information about their environment.

Perhaps the biggest challenge for environmentalism in China lies lack of channels for public discussions on environmental issues. “generations of policies mandated from the top have hindered development of popular checks on unsustainable or environmentally degrading activity”