China is rethinking how it manages its economy, as mounting evidence reveals the heavy toll that unbridled growth has had on the environment and on health.
China is rethinking how it manages its economy, as mounting evidence
reveals the heavy toll that unbridled growth has had on the environment and on
health.
The government said recently it would name and shame
China
's
dirtiest cities as well as force factories to disclose environmental standards
publicly, in an attempt to bring them into line. It also set a target of
cutting emissions intensity in key industries by 30% by 2017's end.
These latest environmental- protection steps are part of "the most
aggressive policy effort to address air-quality issues in Chinese
history," said Jun Ma, chief economist for Greater China at Deutsche Bank.
They are part of
Beijing
's
strategy to confront the damaging environmental consequences of a rollicking
economy.
But moves to clean up the nation's backyard face ingrained resistance from many
officials, especially local ones, who are immersed in a culture that rewards
economic performance alone. Growth "was always one of the key indicators,"
said Hu Tao, a former Chinese environment ministry researcher now at the World
Resources Institute in
Washington
. "The
system encouraged local governments to focus on developing faster."
Even environment minister Zhou Shengxian acknowledges the need for change. "If
development turns healthy people into unhealthy people, this is a parody of
development," he said this month, according to the official Xinhua news
agency. "We need to slow down from the current pace of growth."
The starkest evidence yet of the danger posed to
China
from
its past blind eye toward pollution emerged this month, as a new study blamed
air pollution from coal combustion for reducing life expectancy by more than
five years in some parts of the country. Last week, two officials in southern
China
were
jailed because of river water allegedly tainted with toxic heavy metals from
mining discharge. And earlier this year, intense smog over much of the country
and supplies of rice tainted with cadmium, a toxin, caused public alarm.
Beijing
appears to be responding to
the pressure.
China
's
recently installed President Xi Jinping said in June that local officials would
no longer be promoted purely on the basis of economic record. In the past,
regional officials delivering punchy growth could expect promotion. Now,
pollution will be a factor.
"There are several targets which are already included in the assessment
standards of officials," said Li Wei, a professor at
Beijing
Normal
University
. "Developing
the economy of your local area is necessary, but it isn't the only condition. If
you want full marks, you have to manage the environment well."
The government recently launched trial emissions trading in the southern city
of
Shenzhen
. While
the program likely will have little immediate impact, its benefits could
blossom over the longer term, Mr. Ma said.
As important as the environment is to a growing middle class, government
officials still benefit more from projects that maximize growth. A February
study by
America
's
National Bureau of Economic Research found that spending on transport
infrastructure boosts Chinese city mayors' chances of promotion, while outlays
to fix environment damage their prospects.
China
reported second-quarter GDP growth of 7.5% this week, after growth slowed to
7.8% last year from the year-earlier 9.3%, the weakest rate of expansion in
more than a decade.
While
China
and
the
U.S.
recently agreed to phase out one type of greenhouse gas, the Chinese argue that
developed economies must take the lead in cutting carbon emissions.
Though it is the world's second-largest economy,
China
has a
lower per capita income than that of
Brazil
or
South
Africa
. And while it has vowed to
cut energy intensity -- the energy used per unit of economic output -- there
appears to be next to no chance of an outright drop in its emissions.
As it tries to manage the delicate trade-off between environment and the
economy,
China
is
looking for ways to calculate the hidden costs of its environmental
laissez-faire. For the past several years,
China
's
Ministry of Environmental Protection has measured "green GDP," an
alternate indicator of economic growth reflecting the costs of pollution.
The latest ministry study shows the trend hasn't been encouraging. It found the
cost of pollution was about $250 billion in 2010, representing 3.5% of that
year's GDP, according to a newspaper linked to the Ministry of Environmental
Protection.
China
's
official figures are conservative compared with some outside estimates.
The World Bank put the total cost of all pollution and resource depletion in
China
at 9%
of gross national income in 2009.
Διαβάστε ακόμα
Τρι, 24 Σεπτεμβρίου 2024 - 19:58
Τρι, 24 Σεπτεμβρίου 2024 - 19:54
Τετ, 18 Σεπτεμβρίου 2024 - 18:32
Τετ, 18 Σεπτεμβρίου 2024 - 18:27
Τρι, 17 Σεπτεμβρίου 2024 - 20:01