Pollution in China Costs 10% of GDP
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 06. 7.06
The Shanghai Daily, via ChinaDaily, reports that the deputy chief of the State Environmental Protection Agency, Zhu Guangyao, estimates that environmental damage and pollution are costing the government roughly 10% of China's gross domestic product each year (around US$200 billion right now) and that the country's worsening environmental picture "allows for no optimism". China probably doesn't listen to our advice, but just in case it did: You have to realize that opposing "economic development" to "environmental protection" is not necessary and will inevitably lead to a worsening situation. You are in a position to get it right the first time (leapfrog directly to sustainable technologies), unlike the Western world, and develop with the carrying capacity of the ecosystems that keep us alive in mind. Of course, this is not only China: Every country must do that, especially the rich ones that have the resources and technology to move fast in that direction if they wanted to. It's not a matter of choice, they - and we - can't go in two opposite directions at once and hope that we'll be able to superficially clean up the symptoms of deeper problems later. That kind of thinking has proved ineffective so far and things are just getting worse now that population increase, the industrialization of more regions of the world and technological development are increasing our impact on nature to unprecedented levels; we need to replace broken systems instead of just applying duct tape. Albert Einstein said: "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." China, and everybody else, needs to understand that. ::ChinaDaily
us news in their june 12 article talks about china and their efforts for going alternative. they're doing a lot. they also have A lot to undo. a statistic from the article said 10% of all households (30 million) use solar powered water heating. thats not too shabby for a start.
I have been living in China the last year..it is definitely in many areas getting worse...but there are some signs and some governmental policies that will allow great improvement quickly...not to be a cheerleader or anything...but reading treehugger and inhabitat and other blogs have kept me hopeful...what is missing is people in america insisting wal mart ..star bucks and other major players to use only eco materials so that the citizens of China are not breathing fumes because americans are buying products that are ridiculously cheap because of no environmental standards. it is like blaming colombians for cocaine when the demand is in united states. education..education...education,,,
in germany chinese environmental pollution was the top-news of yesterdays newscasts on all tv-stations. what about the us tv-news?
timothy: "americans are buying products that are ridiculously cheap because of no environmental standards."
europeens do all the same. it is another inconvenient truth: our wealth only consists of low environmental, social and rights at work standards in other countries. just think about the extra-costs if you had bought all stuff you have and ever had and all the food you have ever eaten fair trade and eco-friendly. even that extra-costs would not ashure that the people who produce your products are paid at least that well, that they would be able to buy a notebook and comunicate with us onthis website.
I agree with Timothy Ivory. I just like to add that Chinese government is acting much better than many governments in the world when it comes to environmental issues. For example, China is not trying to reduce of export of wooden
chopsticks to Japan in a
bid to save its trees. I wonder how many governments would take similar step.