{"id":504,"date":"2016-08-16T14:39:04","date_gmt":"2016-08-16T14:39:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.propectin.com\/blog\/?p=504"},"modified":"2016-08-16T14:39:50","modified_gmt":"2016-08-16T14:39:50","slug":"504","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.propectin.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/16\/504\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

http:\/\/www.cfr.org\/china\/chinas-environmental-crisis\/p12608<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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China’s Environmental Crisis<\/h2>\n

Authors:\u00a0Eleanor Albert<\/a>, Online Writer\/Editor, and Beina Xu
\nUpdated: January 18, 2016<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

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China\u2019s environmental crisis is one of the most pressing challenges to emerge from the country\u2019s rapid industrialization. Its economic rise, in which GDP grew on average 10 percent each year for more than a decade, has come at the expense of its environment and public health. China is the world\u2019s largest source of carbon emissions, and the air quality of many of its major cities fails to meet international health standards. Life expectancy north of the Huai River is\u00a0\u00a05.5 years<\/a>\u00a0lower\u00a0than in the south due to air pollution (life expectancy<\/a>\u00a0in China is 75.3 according to 2013 UN figures). Severe water contamination and scarcity have compounded land deterioration. Environmental degradation threatens to undermine the country\u2019s growth and exhausts public patience with the pace of reform. It has also bruised China\u2019s international standing and endangered domestic stability as the ruling party faces increasing scrutiny and public discontent. More recently, amid waning economic growth, leaders in Beijing appear more determined to institute changes to stem further degradation.<\/p>\n

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A History of Pollution<\/h5>\n
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While China\u2019s economic boom has greatly accelerated the devastation of its land and resources, the roots of its environmental problem stretch back centuries. Dynastic leaders who consolidated territory and developed China\u2019s economy exploited natural resources in ways that contributed to famines and natural disasters, writes CFR\u2019sElizabeth C. Economy<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0The River Runs Black: The Environmental Challenge to China’s Future<\/em><\/a>.<\/em>\u00a0\u201cChina\u2019s current environmental situation is the result not only of policy choices made today but also of attitudes, approaches, and institutions that have evolved over centuries,\u201d Economy writes.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment that China began to develop environmental institutions. It dispatched a delegation to the conference in Stockholm, but by then the country\u2019s environment was already in dire straits.<\/p>\n

Economic reforms in the late 1970s that encouraged development in rural industries further exacerbated the problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cChina\u2019s current environmental situation is the result not only of policy choices made today but also of attitudes, approaches, and institutions that have evolved over centuries.\u201d\u2014Elizabeth C. Economy, Council on Foreign Relations<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping implemented a series of reforms that diffused authority to the provinces, creating a proliferation of township and village enterprises (TVEs). By 1997, TVEs\u00a0generated almost a third\u00a0<\/a>of national GDP, though TVEs have since declined in relative importance to the Chinese economy. But local governments were difficult to monitor and seldom upheld environmental standards. Today, with a transitioning Chinese economy fueled by large state-owned enterprises, environmental policies remain difficult to enforce at the local level, where officials often priotize hitting economic targets over environmental concerns. Despite the government\u2019s stated goals,\u00a0actual change<\/a>\u00a0to environmental policies and effective implementation will require revisiting state-society and state-market relations and China\u2019s bureaucratic power structure, writes CFR\u2019sYanzhong Huang<\/a>.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s modernization has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty and created a booming middle class. In some ways, the country\u2019s trajectory of industrialization is not unlike those of other modernizing nations, such as the UK in the early nineteenth century. But experts say China’s environmental footprint is\u00a0far greater\u00a0<\/a>than that of any other single country.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

How Bad Is It?<\/h5>\n
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China is the world\u2019s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, having overtaken the United States in 2007, and was responsible for\u00a027 percent<\/a>\u00a0of global emissions in 2014.<\/p>\n

The country\u2019s\u00a0energy consumption<\/a>\u00a0has ballooned, with\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0from late 2015 implying that it consumed up to 17 percent more coal than previously reported. In January 2013, Beijing experienced a prolonged bout of smog so severe that citizens dubbed it\u00a0an \u201cairpocalypse<\/a>\u201d; the concentration of hazardous particles was forty times the level deemed safe by the World Health Organization (WHO). In December 2015, Beijing issued red alerts for severe pollution\u2014the first since the emergency alert system was established. The municipal government closed schools, limited road traffic, halted outdoor construction, and paused factory manufacturing.\u00a0 At least 80 percent of China\u2019s 367 cities with real-time air quality monitoring failed to meet national small-particle pollution standards during the first three quarters of 2015, according to a\u00a0Greenpeace East Asia report<\/a>.\u00a0 In December 2015, the Asian Development Bank approved a\u00a0$300 million loan<\/a>\u00a0to help China address the capital region\u2019s choking smog.<\/p>\n

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Coal is largely to blame for the degradation of air quality. China is the world\u2019s largest coal producer and accounts for\u00a0about half<\/a>\u00a0of global consumption. Mostly burned in the north, coal provides around two thirds of China\u2019s energy mix, however demand for it appears to be declining. China\u2019s National Energy Agency claimed that\u00a0coal use dropped<\/a>\u00a0to 64.2 percent of the mix in 2014, down almost two percent from 2012. This drop in coal demand also comes as China\u2019s economy is slowing, with its central bank\u00a0forecasting<\/a>\u00a0that annual growth\u00a0 will only expand by 6.8 percent in 2016, down from 6.9 percent a year earlier. Still, doubts linger of China\u2019s commitment to wean itself from coal. In 2015, China\u2019s coal power plant capacity increased by 55 percent in the first six months, 155 new coal-fired plants were approved, and China admitted that it had underreported its annual coal consumption since 2000.<\/p>\n

There were\u00a0 a\u00a0record 17 million new cars<\/a>\u00a0 on the road in 2014, further contributing to China\u2019s high emissions.\u00a0 Car ownership was up to 154 million, according to China\u2019s Ministry of Public Security,with compared to roughly 27 million in 2004, according to China\u2019s National Bureau of Statistics. Another trend compounding air problems has been the country\u2019s staggering pace of\u00a0urbanization<\/a>, a national priority. The government aims to have more than\u00a060 percent<\/a>\u00a0of the Chinese population living in cities by 2020, up from36 percent<\/a>\u00a0in 2000 (53.7 percent of the population in 2015 lived in urban areas).\u00a0Rapid urbanization<\/a>\u00a0increases energy demands to power new manufacturing and industrial centers.<\/p>\n

Experts also cite\u00a0water depletion and pollution<\/a>\u00a0as among the country\u2019s biggest environmental challenges. China is home to 20 percent of the world\u2019s population but only7 percent (PDF)<\/a>\u00a0of its fresh water sources. Overuse and contamination have produced severe shortages, with nearly 70 percent of the\u00a0country\u2019s water supplies<\/a>\u00a0dedicated to agriculture and and 20 percent of supplies used in the coal industry, according to Choke Point: China, an environmental NGO initiative. Approximately two-thirds of China\u2019s roughly 660 cities suffer from\u00a0water shortages<\/a>. Former Chinese premier Wen Jiabao has said that water shortages challenge \u201cthe\u00a0very survival<\/a>\u00a0of the Chinese nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Industry along China\u2019s major water sources has polluted water supplies: in 2014, groundwater supplies in more than 60 percent of major cities were categorized as \u201cbad to very bad\u201d and\u00a0 more than a quarter of China\u2019s key rivers are \u201cunfit for human contact<\/a>.\u201d And lack of waste removal and proper processing has exacerbated problems. Combined with negligent farming practices, overgrazing, and the effects of climate change, the water crisis has turned much of China\u2019s arable land into desert. About 1.05 million square miles of China\u2019s landmass are undergoing\u00a0desertification<\/a>, affecting more than 400 million people, according to the deputy head of China\u2019s State Forestry Administration. Water scarcity, pollution, and desertification are reducing China\u2019s ability to sustain its industrial output and produce food and drinkable water for its large population.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Cost of Environmental Damage<\/h5>\n
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Environmental depredations pose a serious threat to China\u2019s economic growth, costing the country\u00a0roughly 3 to 10 percent of its gross national income, according to various estimates. China\u2019s Ministry of Environmental Protection calculates estimates the cost of pollution at around 1.5 trillion RMB ($227 billion), or roughly 3.5 percent of GDP, according to\u00a02010 figures<\/a>. Due to the sensitivity of the topic, the ministry only releases such figures intermittently.<\/p>\n

Data on the toll of China\u2019s pollution on public health paint a devastating picture. Air pollution contributes to an estimated\u00a01.2 million premature deaths<\/a>\u00a0in China annually. Epidemiological studies conducted since the 1980s in northern China suggest that poor air quality in Chinese cities causes significant\u00a0health complications<\/a>, including respiratory, cardiovascular, and cerebrovascular diseases. Pollution has also been linked to the proliferation of acute and chronic diseases; estimates suggest that around 11 percent of digestive-system cancers in China may stem from unsafe drinking water.<\/p>\n

Recent studies<\/a>\u00a0have reported that emissions from China\u2019s export industries areworsening air pollution<\/a>\u00a0as far as the western United States. China\u2019s neighbors, including Japan and South Korea, have also\u00a0expressed concern<\/a>\u00a0over acid rain and\u00a0smog<\/a>\u00a0affecting their populations. Environmental ministers from the three northeast Asian countries agreed to boost cooperative efforts to curb air pollution and to protect water quality and the maritime environment in 2014.<\/p>\n

The damage has also affected China\u2019s economic prospects as it continues to pursue extractive resources abroad, such as oil and other fossil fuels. Its economic partners, particularly in the developing world, face costly\u00a0environmental burdens\u00a0<\/a>attached with doing business with China, write CFR\u2019s Economy and\u00a0Michael Levi<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0By All Means Necessary<\/em><\/a>, their book on China\u2019s quest for resources.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Citizen Outrage<\/h5>\n
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Environmental damage has cost China dearly, but the greatest collateral damage for the ruling\u00a0Communist Party<\/a>\u00a0has likely been growing social unrest. Demonstrations have proliferated as citizens gain awareness of the health threats and means of organized protest (often using social media). In 2013, Chen Jiping, former leading member of the party\u2019s Committee of Political and Legislative Affairs said that environmental issues are amajor reason<\/a>\u00a0for \u201cmass incidents\u201d in China\u2014unofficial gatherings of one hundred or more that range from peaceful protest to rioting. Environmental protests in\u00a0rural<\/a>\u00a0and urban areas alike\u2014such as those in\u00a0Guangdong<\/a>,\u00a0Shanghai<\/a>,\u00a0Ningbo<\/a>, and\u00a0Kunming<\/a>\u2014are increasing in frequency. The number of \u201cabrupt environmental incidents<\/a>\u201d, including protests,\u00a0 in 2013 rose to 712 cases, a 31 percent uptick from the previous year.<\/p>\n

\"Views<\/a><\/p>\n

CFR\u2019s Economy points out that one of the most important changes in China\u2019s environmental protest movement has been a shift, beginning in the late 2000s, from predominantly\u00a0<\/strong>rural-based protests to urban-based movements. The issue has worried the top leadership, which views the unrest as a threat to the party\u2019s legitimacy.\u00a0\u201cAir pollution in China has turned into a major social problem and its migitation has become acrucial political challenge<\/a>\u00a0for the country\u2019s political leadership,\u201d write Center for Strategic and International Studies\u2019s Jane Nakano and Hong Yang. \u00a0Yet the government has responded to public outcries: Chinese Premier Li Keqiang declared a\u00a0\u201cwar on pollution\u201d<\/a>in March 2014; in May of the same year the government\u00a0strengthened<\/a>\u00a0the country\u2019s Environmental Protection Law for the first time in twenty-five years. Such moves reflect \u201ca changing understanding within China about the relationship between economic development and societal wellbeing,\u201d Economy and Levi write.<\/p>\n

The Internet has played a crucial role in allowing citizens to spread information about the environment, , placing additional political pressure on the government. In March 2015Under the Dome<\/em>, a TED Talk-style documentary on China\u2019s air pollution went viral, attracting hundreds of thousands of views before Internet censors blocked access, and in 2013 the discovery of thousands of\u00a0dead pigs<\/a>\u00a0in the Huangpu river also spread rapidly online. However, experts say the jury is still out on the current government will implement meaningful reforms, which has shown more resolve in cracking down on public dissent than implementing environmental measures.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

What’s Being Done?<\/h5>\n
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The government has mapped out ambitious environmental initiatives in recent five-year plans, although experts say follow-through has been flawed. In December 2013, China\u2019s National Development and Reform Commission, the top economic planning agency, issued its first\u00a0nationwide blueprint (PDF)\u00a0<\/a>for climate change, outlining an extensive list of objectives for 2020. Since January 2014, the central government has required fifteen thousand factories, including large state-owned enterprises, to\u00a0publicly report<\/a>\u00a0real-time figures on air emissions and water discharges. The government also\u00a0pledged<\/a>\u00a0to spend $275 billion over the next five years to clean up the air and $333 billion for water pollution.\u00a0In a November 2014\u00a0joint statement on climate change<\/a>\u00a0with the United States, China committed to hit its peak carbon emissions by 2030 and to have renewables account for 20 percent of its energy mix by 2030. More recently, President Xi Jinping, on a state visit to Washington, announced that China would initiate a national\u00a0cap-and-trade program<\/a>\u00a0in 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing now is an entirely new administration with an entirely different outlook on climate change.\u201d\u2014Li Shuo, Greenpeace East Asia<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

China is one of the biggest investors in renewables, investing nearly\u00a0$90 billion<\/a>\u00a0in 2014 as part of its pledge to cut its carbon intensity (far outspending the United States\u2019 $51.8 billion). Some analysts have\u00a0predicted<\/a>\u00a0that China is on track to overtake the United States as the world\u2019s leading producer of wind energy by 2016. Meanwhile, Chinese firms continue to invest in and partner with\u00a0international companies<\/a>\u00a0to develop renewable energy technologies.<\/p>\n

Though policy implementation has been inconsistent, the environmental NGO community has grown to push the government to stay on track. Thousands of these groups\u2014often working with U.S. and foreign counterparts\u2014push for transparency, investigate corruption, and head grassroots campaigns.\u00a0Friends of Nature<\/a>\u00a0is one of its oldest;\u00a0Global Village<\/a>\u00a0and Green Home are among other well-known NGOs. Despite state support, these organizations inevitably face constraints from government fear that their activities could catalyze democratic social change.<\/p>\n

Despite the political reforms needed to catalyze any real change in the environmental sphere, the response to China\u2019s crisis has triggered some optimism about the future. \u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing now is an entirely new administration with an entirely\u00a0different outlook on climate change<\/a>,\u201d writes Greenpeace East Asia\u2019s Li Shuo. China, once reluctant to take a stand on environmental issues and climate change,\u00a0emerged as a leader<\/a>\u00a0in negotiations at the 2015 UN Climate Conference in Paris where 195 countries signed a breakthrough accord. While China deserves due credit for its ambitious efforts to curtail its own environmental crisis, Economy says it cannot be assumed that Beijing will follow through on its promises. \u201cThe\u00a0proof will be on the ground<\/a>\u2014and of course, in the atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

http:\/\/www.cfr.org\/china\/chinas-environmental-crisis\/p12608   \u00a0 China’s Environmental Crisis Authors:\u00a0Eleanor Albert, Online Writer\/Editor, and Beina Xu Updated: January 18, 2016 China\u2019s environmental crisis is one of the most pressing challenges to emerge from the country\u2019s rapid industrialization. Its economic rise, in which GDP grew on average 10 percent each year for more than a decade, has come at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.propectin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.propectin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.propectin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.propectin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.propectin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.propectin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.propectin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.propectin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.propectin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}