Elizabeth Economy, the CV Starr Senior Fellow and Director for Asian Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, presented a lecture titled "The Environmental Challenges to China's Future" on Monday, Oct. 16 in the Kirner-Johnson Auditorium. Dr. Economy, who is an expert in Chinese foreign and domestic policy, U.S.-China relations and global environmental issues, spoke about the current environmental situation in China and how the nation's people and government are reacting. The event was part of the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center's fall 2006 speaker series.
Everyone knows that China has experienced extraordinary economic growth in the past decades, Dr. Economy began. Perhaps equally extraordinary, however, is the enormous toll that this economic growth has had on China's environment. For example, the first thing a visitor notices in China is the poor air quality, Economy said. In fact, the nation has five out of the world's ten most air polluted cities. This is largely because China gets 70% of its energy from coal, which is used very inefficiently in both home heating and industry. China also has severe problems with deforestation, erosion, and desertification. Economy said that its largest environmental problem, however, is water. Water is both scarce, with only 25% of the worldwide average for per capita water supply, and contaminated, with 75% of the available water being unsuitable for drinking. Only one third of Chinese municipalities have and use the proper water pollution control mechanisms.
Undoubtedly, China's environmental problems have regional and global impacts, Dr. Economy said. China is the world's largest contributor to o-zone depletion, and is second only to the U.S. in contributing to climate change. Economy said that China's environmental situation is certainly a cause for great concern, but there is also some cause for optimism. In the past 3-4 years in particular, there has been an increase in awareness of environmental issues among Chinese leadership in Beijing. Economy stressed that this is not some sort of awakening to environmental responsibility, but is rather recognition of the impact that environmental degradation has on other things that are more important to Chinese leaders, such as economic development, public health and social stability.
There are many efforts in China today to understand the negative impact that environmental issues are having on economic development, Economy continued. One report found that China is losing 8-12% of its potential GDP each year due to environmental problems, and this is the number one cause for environmental awareness by Chinese leaders according to Economy. The second cause is the dangers to public health from pollution. Each year in China, 400,000 people die prematurely from respiratory illnesses due to air pollution. 300 million people in the nation drink polluted water, and 190 million of these drink enough that it causes them chronic health problems. The third cause for concern among Chinese leaders is the impact that continued environmental damage could have on social stability in the nation. There were 500,000 protests about environmental issues in China last year, and Economy said that the environment is among the four leading causes of social unrest in China.
Economy then discussed how the Chinese government and its citizens are reacting to these issues. She said that the government is implementing an environmental protection strategy very similar to that which they used for economic development. One major elements of this plan is a very small central bureaucratic structure in Beijing, with most of the control existing at the local level. Economy said that this causes a patchwork of different policies throughout the nation, and often leaves little economic or political incentive for localities to do the right thing environmentally. Regional control centers are a step in the right direction to fix this problem, she said. The government's policy also relies heavily on engaging the international community in environmental protection efforts. China is the largest recipient of environmental aid from various major sources such as IGOs, NGOs, and other countries. Multi-national corporations are also large players in Chinese environmental policy, as China offers them many more incentives for responsible environmental behavior than other countries.
The most exciting area of change according to Economy is the growth of civil society in China which is advocating for environmental protection. In 1994, when the first Chinese environmental NGO was founded, the focus was on issues of biodiversity and environmental education since these areas were least threatening to the government power structure. Since then, there has been an explosion in the number of NGOs and in the issue areas they address. Over 2,000 environmental NGOs are registered with the Chinese government today, with at least that many more that are not registered. There is some tension between the government and the civil society actors on environmental issues, however. Economy said that the Chinese government is not sure quite what to do with these groups. On the one hand, they like that the groups act as watchdogs to catch violators of environmental protection laws, but on the other hand, they are concerned that these groups will eventually push for broader political reform and eventually democracy.
Where does this leave China? Economy said that there is cause for optimism in the nation's newly energized environmental protection agency and in the public's growing awareness of the issues. However, she said, the significant structural changes that could make a difference have not yet happened, or are at least not funded and enforced. Overall, Economy said, China is at an important moment for the future of its environment.
Dr. Economy then took questions from the audience. Economy was the second speaker in the Levitt Center's 2006-2007 series called "Inequality and Equity."
-- by Caroline Russell O'Shea '07
