Today therefore, China's environmental problems are a result of both Soviet-style policies, which saw the construction of large plants, many of which continue to pollute the atmosphere, water and soil, and the much more recent creation of industries dedicated to the production of goods for export to the markets of the West. It is estimated that as much as a quarter of China's greenhouse gas emissions are created in the process of manufacturing goods for foreign markets.
"The story of China's engagement with the international economy...is well known. Less well known is the more recent rise to priority status of environmental concerns in the policy deliberations of the Communist Party." Robin Porter
The range of environmental issues China faces is very broad, as might be imagined in the world's largest country. Air pollution affects the health of almost the entire population to some degree, and is especially bad in major cities where topographical conditions are also unfavourable. Acid rain is carried from China to fall on Japan and the Korean Peninsula. Many rivers have become polluted by the unregulated dumping or accidental leakage of toxic waste. The soil too has been polluted by chemicals from factories hastily set up to cash in on the desire for cheap goods.
Land has been degraded by overplanting as market forces have come to dominate the agricultural economy, while the clearing of unsuitable tracts of land for cultivation has seen the topsoil blow away and a process of desertification take over. In some instances, measures taken to produce relatively "clean" power, such as the building of large dams to provide hydropower, have had other much more negative consequences – the mass removal of local populations, the flooding of arable land, and the destruction of fisheries downstream. And, as well as all of this, China faces a growing shortage of water, especially in the north, and the threat of rising sea-water levels flooding its coastal regions.
Climate change is a major contributor to all these problems, just as China has been a major contributor to climate change. China is currently the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases, and with its continued heavy reliance on coal, recently surpassed the US as the single biggest emitter of carbon dioxide from power generation.
Party politics
The story of China's engagement with the international economy and its extraordinary rise as a major force in the world since 1980 is well known. Less well known, however, is the more recent rise to priority status of environmental concerns in the policy deliberations of the Communist Party.
Just fifteen years ago, the focus was on economic development at any environmental cost. At that time, with an academic colleague, I visited a major steel plant in Beijing whose contribution to atmospheric, water and soil pollution in the city was all too apparent. The plant was old-fashioned and enormous, with 80,000 workers and their 45,000 dependants all living on site. The research director there rejected our questions about the environment out of hand, saying that the environmental lobby was a capitalist-front organization seeking to undermine China's industrial progress; no doubt foreign multinationals would have been somewhat surprised at this interpretation.1
Since that time, much has changed, however.
The creation of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology in 1998, the growth in confidence of the State Environmental Protection Administration, blossoming dialogue on environmental issues with European powers and Japan (and more recently with the US), and intensified activity by local and international environmental non-governmental organisations in China all helped to focus minds. Academic research in China suggested that if climate change due to man-made pollution continued unabated, floods, drought and desertification would mean that China would be able to produce 8% less food for its people by 2030 than it could in 2004. This would be in the face of a projected rise in population over the same period. In China, where lack of food has historically been a frequent trigger for rebellion, this was political dynamite.
"If climate change continued unabated, floods, drought and desertification would mean that China would be able to produce 8% less food for its people by 2030 than it could in 2004. In China, where lack of food has historically been a frequent trigger for rebellion, this is political dynamite." Robin Porter
Critically, in October 2007 at its major congress, the Communist Party decided to create a new Ministry for Environmental Protection and, for the first time ever, proclaimed the environment one of its top priorities. Just a year later, the Chinese Government announced the publication of its most significant environmental policy document to date - the White Paper China's Policies and Actions on Climate Change.
This document sets out China's strategic intentions on climate change for years to come. Recognizing unequivocally the threat posed by the impact of climate change to China's ecology, economy and "social development", the paper calls for strengthened efforts to control greenhouse gas emissions, enhance China's capacity for adaptation, promote scientific research in this area, improve management, and raise public awareness of environmental issues. While this may seem unremarkable to Western environmental campaigners, it is in fact a sea change in the position of the Chinese Government.
The paper goes on to outline policies for mitigation and adaptation that are already in process, and it instructs government bodies at all levels to "mainstream climate change into economic and social development plans". It takes the UN Framework Convention and the Kyoto process as cornerstones of its activity. Although there are at present no specific targets for reduction, and the White Paper continues to reflect the struggle between "developmentalists" and "environmentalists" at the highest levels of the Party ("development" is still cited as the "core objective"), it will no longer be possible for anyone in China to simply dismiss climate change issues as they were able to just a decade ago.
From the beginning, China had followed developments under the Kyoto process, signing the instrument of approval in 2002. As Chinese concern about climate change increased, China subsequently ratified the Protocol, although along with India it was not required to commit to specific targets for emission reductions. China takes the view that developed countries should "...support developing countries with financial resources, capacity-building and technology transfer". At the climate negotiations in Copenhagen in December it is expected that China will play a more active role than it has to date, though behind-the-scenes negotiations will determine what that role will be.
Meanwhile, bilateral dialogue and joint project work with other countries continue. The UK, for example, has recently significantly expanded its environmental links with China, appointing a Counsellor for Climate Change and Energy for the first time to the British Embassy in Beijing, and setting up a network of 25 staff around China to take forward projects of co-operation, often involving British technology. The UK also supports SAIN – the China–UK Sustainable Agriculture Innovation Network – whose task is to act on priority areas for collaboration on sustainable agriculture.
A greener future?
Certain factors make it likely that the environmental message will be increasingly received with great interest in China. First, most of the largest Chinese corporations are still state-owned, and many of those that are apparently private are still subject to state influence and guidance; the central government's ability to decide on a policy, and then carry it out, makes China significantly different from other emerging economies.
Chinese corporations are also busy globalizing, and they are aware of the need to comply with norms and standards overseas. The concept of corporate social responsibility is now taking off in China, following a number of environmental and health incidents, and scandals. What's more, China is consciously seeking to upgrade its industrial technology, and to promote greater investment in high-tech research and development, including sustainable development.
"It will no longer be possible for anyone in China to simply dismiss climate change issues as they were able to just a decade ago." Robin Porter
Chinese attitudes to nature have evolved over a period of 2,500 years. Especially influential has been the Daoist (Taoist) tradition, dating back to the 3rd century BC, which emphasized respect for the natural environment, and was concerned to fit human life smoothly into nature's rhythms. Complementing this philosophical tradition were practical measures of water conservancy, crop rotation and care for the agricultural environment, which enabled China to be, in traditional times, one of the most efficient producers of food on Earth.
More recently, but still before China began to open up in 1979, the country had a very substantial record of accomplishment in the recycling of products – making shoes out of old rubber tyres, tools out of scrap metal, and fertilizer out of human waste. The concept of multiple sequential use is well understood in China, and a part of its recent past. In addition, the Communist Party has shown concern for water conservancy and tree planting going back decades.
Taken as a whole, these national characteristics and this record suggest that China has both the will and the political structures to enable it to address environmental issues successfully. Chinese regulations pertaining to environmental matters are becoming ever stricter; there may still be a problem of enforcement at the local level, but the trend is towards more effective implementation.
1 The plant in question was closed down several years later, and rebuilt well away from Beijing with newer, less polluting, technology.