Environmental Pollution in China - Essay Example

Running header: Environmental pollution in China Environmental pollution in China Course Name Professor’s Name Institutional Affiliation City and State Where Institution is Located Date Environmental pollution in China Introduction China’s economic growth since 1978 has often been described as miraculous, but also led to serious problems including corruption, environmental pollution and social inequality. However, environmental pollution has been one of the most pressing challenges that have emerged from China’s economic growth that has resulted in massive industrialization. It is clear that China’s economic growth averaging to ten percent annually for over a decade has resulted in massive environmental degradation hence negatively affecting public health. Today, China remains the global leading emitter of carbon while the quality of air in Chinese most major cities remains far below international health standards. This has for instance affected life expectancy in the North of Huai River which is below the south by 5.5 years owing to air pollution1. There has also been severe water contamination as well as scarcity thus compounding environmental and land deterioration. Of late, there has been realization that Chinese environmental degradation threatens to undermine its growth hence resulting to increasing public impatience regarding government’s reforms that would reverse the situation. As a result, China’s international standing has been bruised and domestic stability has been endangered with the ruling party facing increased scrutiny as well as public discontent. This has resulted in Chinese leaders doing more in instituting policy changes that will greatly reduce environmental degradation. This essay looks at the issue of environmental pollution in China in detail indicating the depth and scope of the problem and the actions taken by the Chinese government and Chinese citizens to improve the situation. In addition, the extent to which the actions have been effective as well as the obstacles to resolving the environmental pollution have been looked at in detail. Depth and Scope of environmental pollution in China China’s economic growth has resulted in China being the world’s top source of greenhouse emissions having overtaken the US in 2007 and in 2014, China contributed 27 percent of emissions globally. China’s energy consumption has been on the rise since 1978 with the country consuming more and more coal. The country for instance experienced a prolonged bout of smog in January 2013 that was much severe that the public called it airpocalypse. At this time, Chinese hazardous particles concentration was 40 times more than what WHO deems safe2. The country issued red alerts for severe pollution. In the same year, municipal government schools were closed, road traffic was limited, factory manufacturing was paused and outdoor construction halted. In addition, 80% of Chinese cities having real-time monitoring of air-quality had not met national small particle pollution standards for the better part of 2015. The depth of the situation led to the ADB approving a $300 million debt for helping China address the chocking smog incidents. China’s environmental pollution is largely attributed to its increased use of coal. It is the global top source of coal and consumes almost half of world’s coal. China’s coal is mostly burned in the north and accounts for two thirds of the country’s energy mix. It is however worth noting that the demand for coal in China is declining with this being caused by slowing economic growth. However, there are doubts on China’s ability to stop the increased usage of coal. This is seen in China having increased its capacity to produce coal by 55 percent in the first six months of 2015 by approving 155 new coal fired plants and China admitting to underreporting its annual coal consumption data since the year 2000. Another major source of environmental pollution in China has been increased use of cars. For instance in 2014 alone, 17 million new cars were on the country’s roads further complicating China’s high emission problems. Based on China’s ministry of public security, car ownership in China had increased to 154, 000, 0000 from only 27,000,000 cars in 2004 based on CNBS. The air pollution problem is also compounded by its staggering pace of urbanization which has been a national priority. This is seen in the fact that the government aims at having sixty percent of its population living in urban centers by 2020 compared to just 36% in 2000. In fact, 53.7 percent of Chinese population lived in urban areas in 2015. The effect of rapid urbanization has been increased energy demands needed for powering new manufacturing and industrial centers. Among the greatest Chinese environmental challenges has been water depletion and pollution. Although China boasts as hosting 20% of global population, it only has only 7 percent of its water sources being fresh. There has been overuse and contamination from industrial emissions and this has resulted in a lot of shortages with about 70% of Chinese water supplies being used for Agriculture and another 20 percent being used in its coal industry3. Thus, more than two thirds of Chinese cities experience water shortages and this challenges the survival of China as a nation. It is also worth noting that industrialization along China’s major water sources has led to pollution of China’s water supplies in most of its major cities with them being classified as bad to very bad as far as water quality is concerned. Furthermore, more than 25% of Chinese major rivers are considered as unhealthy for human contact owing to proper waste management which compounds the water pollution problem. The environmental pollution is also associated with poor farming methods, climate change effects and overgrazing and this has led into much of Chinese arable land turning into desert. The country has close to 1.05 million square miles of its land mass undergoing desertification which has affected more than 400 million people. The water scarcity, pollution and desertification have had the effect of reducing the country’s ability for sustained industrial output and production of food and safe water for the 1.35 people population. Probably the greatest indication of the environmental pollution caused by China’s economic growth is the existence of cancer villages. These are entire villages that are considered as polluted such that living in them is risking cancer infection. For instance the river flowing through the town in Shangba changes from white to a startling shade of orange owing to varying types of industrial effluent. Such pollutants include cadmium and zinc which are carcinogenic. The fish and the animals relying on the river for water died and if one puts his/her leg in the river, one gets rashes and terrible itch with six people dying from cancer when aged between 30 and 40 years in a nearby village. The Chinese environmental ministry has also reported that carcinogenic materials banned in other countries are widely found in China. The ministry acknowledges that this has resulted in numerous social and health issues including the presence of cancer villages in various regions. The depth and scope of environmental pollution in China can be seen in various reports that attempt to estimate the cost of environmental pollution. In 2014, the OECD released a report that estimating the health related costs of the air pollution in 2010 to be $1.4 trillion. Data on the effect of environmental pollution on the country’s public health is devastating since it is estimated that environmental pollution is to blame for approximately 1.2 million early deaths in China every year4. The poor quality of air especially in the Northern cities is blamed for momentous health problems that include cardiovascular, respiratory as well as cerebrovascular diseases. Pollution is also blamed for spread of serious and enduring diseases with estimates blaming around 11% of gastric systems cancers to unhealthy drinking water. Emissions from Chinese industries have also been blamed for worsening air pollution even beyond China to countries as far as China. The countries neighboring China such as South Korea and Japan have also been concerned about smog and acid rains affecting their citizens. This has seen environmental ministers from China and its neighbors sign agreements aimed at boosting cooperative efforts aimed at curbing air pollution and protecting water quality as well as the marine environment5. The increased environmental pollution also continue to threaten Chinese economic projections as the country continues look for extractive resources in other countries including oil and related fossil fuels. The country’s economic partners especially those in the developing world continue to face costly environmental burden as they continue doing business with China owing to Chinese practices that deplete the environment. What the Chinese citizens and the government are doing about the resultant environmental pollution As observed above, environmental pollution has greatly cost China. However, the greatest collateral damage has been caused to the ruling communist party owing to the growing social unrest. In other words, the citizens’ actions against the increased pollution has been in terms of increased social unrest to force policy changes by the government. The increased demonstrations are as a result of increased citizenry consciousness of health dangers and other means of organized protests mainly through the use of social media. According to Chen Jiping, environmental issues are the main reason for increased mass action in China which have included illegal gatherings ranging from peaceful protesting to riots. The environmental protests have been rampant in both urban and rural areas with the most notable areas being Guangdong, Shanghai, Ningbo and Kunming6. There have also been increasing abrupt environmental incidents that have included protests with 2013 alone registering 712 cases which was a 31 percent increase from those reported in 2012. The incidences have been on the rise since then. The increased incidents especially urban based protests has worried China’s top leadership that has viewed the protests as threatening the party’s legitimacy. As a result, air pollution is now seen as a chief social issue while its mitigation is now a critical political issue for China’s political leadership. This has seen the government respond to public outcries with the Chinese premier declaring war on pollution in 2014. This is seen in the government strengthening environmental protection laws. This is a sign of a shifting understanding in China on the need to pursue both economic wellbeing and environmental sustainability. A considerable part of the citizenry activism has been conducted on the internet which has performed a vital role in helping the public spread facts concerning environmental pollution and this has placed additional pressure on the government to act on environmental pollution. Incidences that have been reported in the internet include the 2013 discovery of very many pig carcasses in the Hampu River that went viral in the internet attracting thousands of views7. However, the citizenry action in the internet is at times hampered by government censorship of the internet as was the case in March 2015 when Under the Dome- a TED talk style documentary on air pollution in China went viral attracting thousands of views though its access was blocked through censorship. These are some of the challenges that Chinese citizens have to go through in their efforts to advocate for war on environmental pollution. The Chinese government too has intensified war against environmental degradation by mapping out an ambitious environmental initiative especially as far as the recent five years plan is concerned. However, experts say follow though has been flowed. China’s national development and reform commission which is its top economic planning agency gave its first nationwide blueprint on climate change that outlined China’s list of objectives for 2020. This has seen the government requiring fifteen thousand industries including parastatals to report publicly real-time figures regarding their air emissions and water discharge since 2014. Chinese government has also promised to devote $275 billion in the coming five years in cleaning up air and $333 billion to reduce water pollution8. The government also jointly with the US dedicated to significantly reduce carbon emissions by 2030 and increase renewables to 20 percent of the national energy mix. The government also plans to introduce a national cap and trade program in 2017. Today, China has become one of the biggest investors in renewables and in 2014, it invested nearly $2014 in its efforts to reduce its carbon intensity. This was higher than the US spending of $51.8 billion. Thus, China is likely to overtake the US as the global leading wind energy producer by the end of 2016. In addition, Chinese industries are continually investing and partnering with international companies in developing renewable energy technologies. The government efforts however been hampered by the fact that policy implementation has been inconsistent. However, civil society and the environmental activists and NGOs have increasingly pushed the government to increase efforts towards improved environmental sustainability. Thousands of such NGOs have worked with foreign counterparts in pushing for transparency, investigating corruption and heading grassroots environmental campaigns. Such NGOs include friends of nature, Green Home and Global village among others. It is however worth noting that despite state support, the organizations have inevitable faced constraints emanating from the government fearing that such activities could result in democratic social change9. Though there have been political reforms necessary for catalyzing tangible change in Chinese environmental scope, the rejoinder to the country’s environmental crisis has led to some optimism concerning the future. There is a government that has taken a completely different outlook on climate change. For instance, though China was once reluctant in taking a stand concerning climate change and environmental matters it was a key leader in negotiating during the 2015 UN climate conference in Paris resulting in signing of a breakthrough accord by 195 countries. However, critics argue that though China deserves credit for its environmental pollution reduction efforts, it cannot be assumed that the government will fulfill its promises. Whether efforts to control environmental pollution in China have been successful and the obstacles associated with curbing environmental pollution in China The efforts by both the Chinese population and Chinese government to reduce environmental pollution have largely been a success.in a bid to bring a lasting resolution to the smog surrounding various Chinese cities, titer factory as well as vehicle controls were seen as necessary. Thus, the Chinese government in 2011 promised to broaden pollution decline targets through including nitrogen oxide mainly from vehicle exhausts as well as ammonia which is a major water pollutant from chemical and textile plants in its environmental control policy. In this regard, cities like Beijing and Shanghai have started restrictions on ownership of cars with the authorities taking positive steps in releasing of environmental data. This has been a break from the situation in the last two years where the only real time publicly available environmental pollution monitor in China was mainly from the US embassy tweets. Nowadays, water and air data from over 100 Chinese cities is available on the environmental ministry’s website. This is a great step towards managing environmental pollution in China10. Recent government policies have also been encouraging desulfurization and related filtering technologies in power plants. This has resulted in China cutting its sulfur dioxide emissions by more than 25.5 million tons. The efforts have also been helped by Mother Nature with sharp northern winds helping Beijing to 2011 with increased blue sky days. The skies in large cities of Beijing and Shanghai have also been clearing as a result of modernizing heavy industry or relocating them from town. Chinese government has also closed many small and filthy coal power plants. As a result, China now leads globally in building super-critical power stations that emit far less smog than most of the hulking units in US. Thus, Chinese is eventually getting cleaner as it gets richer. However, it should be noted that though Chinas efficient coal plants do not produce as much particulate matter, nitrogen oxide and Sulphur dioxide in the atmosphere, they still emit high amount of carbon dioxide which remains an environmental challenge for China11. The government has also brought to local neighborhoods electricity lines and citizens have been encouraged to embrace electric heaters as opposed to briquette heated stoves. On its part, the government pays two thirds of the heaters costs for the citizens in a bid to make the change easier to accept. China has also phased out leaded gasoline, toughened up anti-pollution laws, shut down the dirtiest factories and installed laws for car owners to install catalytic convertors12. Many families have also installed air purifiers with some cities introducing emission trading programs where plants that cause a lot of pollution pay those that have to spend more in reducing pollution. The government has also given green light to lawyers, activists and journalists to increase public awareness on pollution while going after polluters. These efforts have greatly lowered the amount of environmental pollution in China and hence they can be termed as largely successful. Obstacles militating against China’s war on environmental pollution Despite the success noted above, there are many obstacles that continue to prevent China from fully winning the war on environmental pollution. Some of the factors include China’s environmental bureaucratic lack of authority. This is because the environmental ministry faces many odds owing to complex bureaucracy and weak enforcement of laws with other ministries shaping policies that negatively affect the environment13. The ministry also lacks power to set fuel emission standards and is rarely consulted by government departments in making decisions affecting the environment. In other words, the government can be blamed for lacking the will and zeal to fight environmental pollution. The state owned companies also have a lot of power in policy making on environmental standards. Thus, whether these companies are forced to follow as opposed to impeding environmental restrictions is a critical test of government’s commitment to curbing environmental pollution. The war has also been hampered by political infighting over pollution solutions in China thus hampering enactment of stronger environmental policies. Some have put profits ahead of health and worked to outflank environmental policies14. The government has in the past been seen to fight protesters and activists instead of addressing their environmental concerns while the quest for economic growth at the expense of environmental protection has been seen as a great obstacle to the fight against environmental degradation. Conclusion This paper has looked at the impact of China’s rapid economic growth since 1978 on the environment. It has been established that the economic growth has resulted in massive environmental pollution that has endangered the lives of people and animals as well. The environmental pollution has included massive air pollution, water pollution and soil pollution and this has resulted in serious health concerns. Environmental pollution has mainly been blamed on industrial effluents and massive use of coal. The massive environmental pollution has been noted to a lot of environmental activism calling government to action. The government feeling threatened has also started acting against environmental pollution. As such, the war on pollution has been seen gaining fruits in the name of reduced pollution. However, it has been observed that serious obstacles continue to militate against the war on environmental pollution. The government for instance has been blamed for being hypocritical on its war against environmental pollution. It has thus been concluded that much still remains to be done if the war is to be won. The government needs to be more serious in its actions while the environmental activism should be sustained until tangible results are noted. Works cited: Asian Development Bank. “Addressing climate change risks, disasters and adaptation in the People’s Republic of China”. Asian Development Bank, 30th Mar. 2015. Web. 30th Oct. 2016. Gao, George. “As smog hangs over Beijing, Chinese cite air pollution as major concern. Fact Tank”. Peer Research Center, 28th Oct. 2016. Web. 30 Oct. 2016. 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