1. Environmental
Problems in China
Kenneth Lieberthal, Governing China: Chapter 9: The
Environment
“Can China clean up Fast Enough?” The
Economist, Aug, 10, 2013
“Briefing: China and the Environment: the East is Grey” The
Silvana Moussa
2. Outline
Political Economy after 1949
The implication of Mao Zedong’s policies on the
environment
The Reform Era
The availability of natural resources
The debate about the Three Gorges Dam
3. China’s Current Environmental
Situation
Given the vastness of China and its
population, China faces many environmental
concerns, affecting the biosphere and consequently
health.
Lieberthal makes the statement;
How the PRC manages the tensions between
maximising growth and protecting the
environment will have major consequences both
for the citizens of China and the global community.
4. Facts and Figures
‘The figure of $230 billion, or
1.54 trillion Renminbi, is
based on costs arising from
pollution and damage to the
ecosystem, the price that
China is paying for its rapid
industrialization.‟
-The New York Times March,
„The average Chinese person
produces the same amount of CO2 as
the average European.‟
-The Economist
Chinese authorities claim that they are not responsible
for the build-up of green house gases.‟ In their opinion
The west is. The contention remains that although there
are environmental problems – China, as the article „The
East is grey‟ suggests is simply following a pattern
that was set by Britain, America and Japan ‘Grow
first, clean up later.’
5. Environmental Problems Originating
before 1978
The PRC currently suffers from major environmental
problems along two axes:-
The effects of the political economy created after 1949
The availability and distribution of natural resources
6. Maoism and the Environment
The Maoist system contributed in several dimensions to
the damage the Chinese environment suffered.
Under Mao, the traditional Chinese ideal of ‘harmony
between heaven and humans’ was abrogated in favor
of Mao’s insistence that ‘Man must conquer nature.’
Maoist China placed primary stress on development of
heavy industry as a means to achieve great-power
status.
7. The Impact of Ideology on the Environment
Self Reliance
-Each ministry looked
out for its own interests
and paid little attention
to the externalities
-each ministry develop
an appropriate array of
small industries
Political Campaigns
- Great Leap Forward 1957-
58
Water Conservancy
Campaign during the
Winter of 1957-58
Mobilised peasants to dig
new wells
- Cultural Revolution
Produced the
conversion of many
grasslands to cultivated
fields
The combination of both of Mao’s prominent
ideologies lead to the substantial damage to
the environment.
- Since the Water Campaign the water
table on the north plain of China has been
dropping
8. Maoism and the Environment
The Maoist system of administered prices consistently
undervalued basic natural-resource inputs such as coal and
water.
This encouraged factory managers and consumers to be
profligate in their use of natural resources.
Lieberthal’s claim that
‘Few leaders in any country are willing to depress current
standards of living to benefit their successors. He continues stating
that this is ‘true when popular attitudes do not give highest priority
to environmental issues.’
And given that this book was published in 2003 although may
retain elements of truth, it can only be used as an indicative
reference.
9. ‘Officials will be held responsible for environmental problems
in an area even after they have been promoted out of it.
’The Economist – The East is Grey
The Conclusion as Lieberthal puts it;
‘The Maoist system sowed the seeds of tremendous
environmental injury through it emphasis on
- Heavy industry
- Adoption of wasteful technologies for
production
- Conscious focus on maximizing industrial output
without regard for environmental impact
10. Post 1978 Reforms and the
environment
China’s environmental problems have worsened significantly
since the start of reforms.
- From 1982 to 1989, the country lost one third of its mature
forests.
As Deng had said to a Communist Youth League gathering;
In the past, we’ve had too many political movements…When it
comes to ways of optimizing the relations of production, I think
we should take this attitude. Adopt whatever pattern will
restore and develop agricultural output in each locality quickly
and easily.
Orville Schell, Mandate of Heaven: The Legacy of Tiananmen Square
and the Next Generation of China’s Leaders (New York: Simon and
Schuster, 1995), p. 351.
11. Impact of Reforms on Environment
Reform Era Efforts to limit Environmental
Degradation
- Exponential economic
development
Development of property rights
Personal desire for growth Increase of incentives at the
enterprise level to adopt
resourceful technologies
Break –up of peoples
communes
Intercourse in the international
arena – increase in
accountability
Significant increase in
Urbanization
Increase in infrastructure
construction – depleting the
pool of arable land
12. There is not an adjective that soars high enough or
detonates with enough force to describe China’s
economic explosion or the promise of its future. One fifth
of humanity, for decades locked in the dungeon of Mao
Zedong’s proletarian revolution, where for decades they
were whipped and exhausted by meaningless mass
movements, are now fully unleashed in an epic pursuit of
material wealth.2
New York Times, January 2, 1994. Cited in Richard Smith, "Creative
Destruction: Capitalist Development and China’s Environment," New Left
Review, No. 222 (March-April, 1997), p. 5.
13. Natural Resources
Natural resources are an important component of natural
conditions. They include mainly land, water, and mineral
resources. China is usefully divided into three major
topographical regions.
The northwest – which is arid and suffers from wind erosion
The south west – which is cold and contains high plateaus
and
The east – with extensive rivers.
The results of this population pressure are evident in major areas
of the country. Where an increase in population is proportional
to the acceleration of erosion, deforestation, and pollution.
15. Renewable Energy
China’s Renewable Energy Law, established in 2005, significantly improved
the policy environment for renewable development, setting the industry on
a path of continuous rapid growth.
Renewables now provide more than a quarter of China’s electricity
generating capacity.
16. Hydro power is the most widely used
form of renewable energy,
accounting for 16% of global
electricity generation – and is
expected to increase about 3.1%
each year for the next 25 years
China’s capacity even
exceeds that of Brazil, the
USA and Canada
combined.
China’s love affair with this
renewable energy source
looks set to continue over
the next decade as
investment in hydropower
becomes one of China’s
key areas of focus.
Engelsiepen, Jane. "Hydro Power in China." Ecology Global Network.
N.p., Mar. 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
Hydropower In China
18. Opinions on the Three Gorges Dam
"By severing the mighty
river and slowing the flow
of its water, the dam will
cause pollution from
industrial and residential
sources to concentrate in
the river’’ Chinese journalist Jin Hui in
"The River Dragon Has
Come!"
"One of the tragedies of this
[project], if just from a regional
standpoint, is that the land that
is going to be flooded is some
of the most fertile in China.’
Dr. John Byrne, director of the University
of Delaware's Center for Energy and
Environmental Policy.
"The project's conception was monumental," says Byrne. "This was
seen in the early years [of the project] as a way to show the
advanced nature of Chinese society under socialism, to solve a
problem that has existed in China for thousands of years... But when
you're doing something on this scale, you should really make solving
the problems your first priority. Unfortunately, China has decided to
launch the project -- then solve the problems along the way."
19. Three Gorges Dam
Hydropower in any case requires dam construction that may
severely damage the environment as debates over the huge
three gorges dam on the Yangtze.
Advantages Disadvantages
Cost effectiveness compared with other
renewable energy sources
The controversial displacement of 1million
people
Journalist Dai Qing ‘the most environmentally
and socially destructive project in the world.’
(jailed for 10 years)
Hydropower benefits from flexibility- adjust
output quickly
Estimate nearly 1300 historical sites
disappearing under water
Long economic lives for the dam Threatening protected species
Operating labor cost is usually low. Systems
are mainly automated
Ecosystem disruption – fishing, soil siltation
Deforestation, Water Pollution, Landslides (91
already reported)