There appears to be an odd mismatch between the positive and the negative. China has received deserved attention concerning its 4 trillion Yuan environmental stimulus, as well as its innovative system to fund research and development for clean energy, including cheap production of wind turbines and solar panels. It also seems to have coped effectively and efficiently with its own oil spill crisis in Dalian Bay, if one believes government reports.
Yet conditions on the ground keep worsening. In urban areas, the most recent damning report shows a decline in urban air quality, including in Beijing despite the measures taken during the 2008 Olympics. 83% of China’s sea area is also polluted to some degree (up 5% from last year), which can mostly be blamed on pollution from coastal cities.
Yet most worrying are issues around rural pollution, which still remain underreported. Earlier in the year, the Chinese government released a census showing that farmers’ fields tend to be a larger source of water contamination (especially in concentrations of phosphorus and nitrogen discharges) than factory effluent, the traditional focus of water pollution issues in China. Greenpeace reports that China is responsible for 35% of the world’s use of chemical fertilizers, but this covers only 7% of the world’s arable land to feed 22% of the world’s population. Also, most new industry projects are taking place in rural areas, where environmental law enforcement and pollution monitoring is weaker.
In a way, these reports highlight the stepped-up clash between economic growth and environmental concerns. Government agencies seem willing to release more honest and wide-ranging figures than before, and the state media has been able to report on a number of anti-pollution protests against irresponsible factories in various provinces. The Chinese population is also increasingly informed about the environmental issues plaguing their country, and last year residents were allowed to prosecute the government over pollution claims. This increasing politicization of environmental issues is a good thing; it hardly ever happened even ten years ago. Yet it will still take further titanic efforts to change the course of current environmental trends. At least the government and the Chinese people seem willing to take some of these issues head on.
Posted on July 29, 2010
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