Environmental consciousness in China
(Update 22 August 2007: some of the linked webpages in this article do not exist anymore. Luckily, you can still find the relevant content through the Web Archive copy of this article.)
WorldChanging.com points at an article in National Geographic’s March edition: China’s growing pains. The author, Jasper Becker, discusses the environmental effects of China’s unrivaled economic development in recent years, and the environmental concousness that is starting to emerge as a result of problems related to pollution and unsustainable land-use. The question is: Will the Chinese be able to turn their economy into a ‘greener’ direction in time?
Despite our ongoing frustration with U.S. environmental policies, the real focus of concern for the 21st century climate has to be China. 75% of China’s power still comes from coal, and current trends don’t change, China could overtake the U.S. in terms of greenhouse gas output within a few decades. If the Chinese economy continues to grow, demand for cars, consumer goods, bigger homes – all of the lifestyle accoutrement of a modern nation – could be environmentally disastrous, if China adopts the same technologies and infrastructure as the West. But if the Chinese economy collapses, they will be unable to afford the changes in technology and infrastructure required to clean up their already massive environmental problems.
Six months earlier, Becker wrote a four-part series on the Chinese environmental en energy issues called ‘The Ruined Land’ in the Asia Times. It discusses some important topics in more detail than the piece in National Geographic. Stan Abrams provides a summary of each of the four articles on China Review. (Furthermore, an overview of recent articles on environmental developments in China. Including some interesting ones.)
Actually, a good friend of mine is living and working in Beijing at the moment. I will have to ask him about his experiences there. Maybe he can tell us more about the developing environmental awareness.
(Updated on 12 March, with information on the Asia Times series)
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