Industrialization and Environmental Pollution - Essay Example

Market Economy & Pollution in Beijing Table of Contents Market Economy 3 Air Pollution in Beijing and Economy 3 Solutions 5 References 7 Bibliography7 Market Economy Market economy is the sort of economy that is dependent upon the law of supply and demand and is featured by free pricing system. The law of demand and supply states that, as the demand for any good increases (i.e. supply contracts), the price of the good also increases and vice-versa. Therefore, in a state of market economy, the firm or the company is the price-taker and the market is the price-maker. In reality, market economics does not exist in pure form as often government and regulatory bodies step in to control prices. Air Pollution in Beijing and Economy China is one of the fastest emerging economies of the world. The country has been maintaining steady economic growth even amidst the global meltdown. The progress of the nation can be directly related with the massive industrialization that has been taking place. And with industrialization comes the pollution. Research reports conducted by Chinese Academy suggest that the country has experienced more than 41 million premature deaths because of air pollution. With the development of the economy, the purchasing power of the citizens is on the rise and therefore more cars and vehicles are expected to hit the roads contributing more towards the pollution. In fact, Beijing is often regarded as the capital of air pollution of the world as the nation has the credit of being the second largest producer of the green house gasses. Air pollution at Beijing rose to extra ordinary heights during 2008 elections. Though Chinese authorities took number of initiatives to keep the pollution level with in the limit of control, yet as per World Health Organization, the level was ‘excessive’. The magnificent growth and performance of the economy has been possible with the pro-market economies of the government. But pollution remains to be a major challenge to the Chinese society as out of top ten polluted cities, five are situated in the country. As it happens in free market economy, government and the regulators do not have any control as such upon the big industrial houses. Therefore the companies are having almost free-reign towards industrialization and contributing to immense air pollution causing even acid rains in the capital city of Beijing. Around 3 % to 8 % of the gross domestic product (GDP) is being imposed as the welfare cost in the country (Herd & Dougherty, 2005). Previously, the pollution in China was primarily caused by burning of coal as the fuel for domestic uses and the industrial purposes. Sulfur dioxide was also among the major pollutant. But as with the free economy, urbanization and industrialization became rapid in China, other sources of emission became crucial even before problem of coal combustion could get resolved. The increase in the number of vehicles has increased the concentration of the poisonous gasses like nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic groups (VOCs) and particulate matter (PM), etc. The amalgamation of traffic exhaust and coal smog has been a major challenge to the economically developed Chinese regions like Beijing, Shanghai and Pearl River Delta. Solutions China is the most populous nation of the world. One out of every five person lives in China. Pollution, specifically air pollution has been a major challenge to the citizens of the nation, thanks to massive industrialization and globalization. The government of China is initiating wide number of requisite measures to reduce the effect. Some of the measures include Three North Protective Forest Program, Natural Forest Conservation Program or the Wetland Restoration Program. From the taken measures, it can be presumed that the government is banking upon the traditional methods like afforestations and reforesetations. These measures would help to increase the forest cover and prevent erosion of soil. Trees also helps in sinking the prevalent level of carbon-dioxide, emitted from the industries. Such forestation programs also help in initiating wetland biodiversity (The Ecological Society of America, n.d.). The initiatives taken by the government looks prudent in black and white. But often it is found that such measures are rarely implemented at the local level as it has to pass through many of the strata of bureaucracies. The nation even did not respond to the international agreements like Kyoto Protocol as it believes, being an emergent economy it should not be guided by international regulations. Many of the experts in the relevant fields feel that to solve the emerging problems of pollution, the civil society and the non-governmental organisations should play and the leading role. As the nation is ruled by communist party, so it had many reservations in non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to be functional. But with the pressure of environmental issues mounting up, the government did allow independent NGOs since 1994. Though NGOs have been approved to function in the politically stubborn China, yet many a times it happens so that the fate of such NGOs are dependent on the government. Apart from these factors, another major challenge has been the funding for the developmental work. NGOs in China often have starved of funds for the environmental measures as according to the regulatory measures they can not have donor members. Even the funds allocated to support the programs by the central government are deemed to be insufficient. But having NGOs is of great help to the cause of reducing pollutions in three ways. Firstly, they effectively organize clean up programs and help government. Secondly, non-government organisation plays major role in creating mass awareness regarding the issue. Thirdly, those organisations can collect the requisite founds even from other countries which the government itself could not do (Red Pepper, 2007). To solve the problem of increasing pollution, along with allocating more resources to the NGOs, the government should have strict laws and regulations on pollution standards in place for vehicles and industries. In fact, it can think of having dedicated regulatory body to check pollution. Also, the government should persuade the multi national corporations functioning in China, to take social responsibilities towards the economy and the society and contribute funds and initiate programs to reduce the level of pollution. With the involvement of the multi-national corporations, the task of the government would get easier and shared and it would also help the companies to have a social face to the customers. References Herd, R., & Dougherty, S., 2005. China’s economy: A remarkable transformation. OECD Observer. [Online] Available at: http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/1685/China_92s_economy:_A_remarkable_transformation.html [Accessed July 31, 2009]. Red Pepper, 2007. China’s pollution solution. Red Pepper. [Online] Available at: http://www.redpepper.org.uk/China-s-pollution-solution [Accessed July 31, 2009]. The Ecological Society of America, No Date. China’s environment: challenges and solutions. Guest Editorial. [Pdf] Available at: http://www.frontiersinecology.org/specialissue/ESA_Sept06_ONLINE-02.pdf [Accessed July 31, 2009]. Bibliography Watts, J., 2005. Satellite data reveal Beijing as air pollution capital of the world. The Guardian. [Online] Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2005/oct/31/china.pollution [Accessed July 31, 2009]. Read More