Presentation1

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 Economist, Aug, 10, 2013.

Silvana Moussa

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

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.

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, 2013

‘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.’

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

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.

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

BUTMao’s polices of

low personal consumption also

produced an ethos

of conserving materials.

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.

‘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

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.

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 UrbanizationIncrease in infrastructure construction – depleting the pool of arable land

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.

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.

Natural Resources

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.

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

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."

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)

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