Current Context
Overall, it seems Asia's broad and deep environmental problems are in fact threatening the security of its people. Issues stemming from poor practices are flooding, water scarcity, loss of crops, death, and homelessness. These issues threaten species, health, and the economy so they should be considered security issues.
So why are they not security issues?
Several factors have been cited as to why the environment doesn't fall under the traditional, realist vision of security in East Asian nations. Among them are historical tensions from wars and general mistrust between nations, military and arms build-up, and the view that security is a state issue where nations protect their own from foreign entities. There are little to no multilateral alliances among nations and bilateral agreements are prominent. This means that the regional issue of the environment has no hope of being resolved in such a nationalist area of the world. Also, the presence of the U.S., another military-security focused nations, lends to the increasing view that the environment is not a concern of security.
What needs to occur
In my opinion, East Asian nations need to give more support to the regional organizations they have already established for environmental issues. They need to give up some national power to the overreaching entities so they can deal with the environment as the state-line crossing problem it is. These organizations need to make the regulations they agree upon legally binding rather than just guidelines. The health, economy, and security of East Asia depends upon taking a new stance to the issue and putting aside military suspicions and rivalries. They must also address the issue of an ever-expanding economy and use of resources. They need to stop focusing on miltary spending and instead give these resources to its people so they can stop over-cultivating the land just to survive.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Sunday, March 2, 2008
China's Environmental Problems Are Not Just China's Problems
The Great Leap Backward?; The Costs of China's Environmental Crisis
In this article, Elizabeth Economy believes that China's recent economic progress is causing a massive environmental decline that may reverse all of China's success and cause the Communist party to lose everything it has gained. She blames local people for wasting resources, local governments for being corrupt and not enforcing laws, factories for ignoring reforms, MNCs for inefficiency and lack of concern, the Chinese government for withholding information while not providing incentives to be more environmentally friendly, and, finally, the International community for both placing too much pressure on China to perform economic miracles and not providing a model of environmental reform for the nation to follow. There are a whole list of problems and consequences with few solutions and the Communist government may lose out whether they do or they don't.
Bottom Up Approach
This is an absolutely necessary approach to turning around China's environmental sins. Economy emphasizes that the government can impose restrictions and offer incentives but it must be NGOs, local governments, factories, and the people that call for the reforms. Local businesses have some of the worst emissions rates and need incentives to stop. As it is right now, it is cheaper to violate environmental laws and pay fines than spend the money to fix their factories.
It is only the bottom that can enforce environmental change. These people are NGOs who can educate a broader population more effectively than the government or international agencies can. These groups, along with the population, see the damage being caused to China and the consequences of pollution so they know better than anyone what needs to happen and how it can happen.
What is going on over there?
This is just a brief, succinct list of all problems in China:
1) Consumed 2.4 billion tons of coal in 2006 (the number is rising)
2) China has 16 of 20 most polluted cities in the world
3) 14,000 new cars hit the road every day in China (more gas emissions)
4) Urbanization, the inefficient way buildings are being constructed, and the increase in electronic appliance use because of this
5) Deforestation from timber needs, soil contamination from acid rain, loss of biodiversity, and desertification
6) Climate change
7) Water shortages from leaky pipes, agricultural needs, polluted water, less rain
And the list of environmental problems this causes:
1) Acid rain in China, Japan, Korea and pollutants in U.S.
2) Pollution in Pacific Ocean
3) Loss of seafood supply
4) Largest CO2 emitter in the world
5) Deforestation in other areas of the world from illegal timber consumption
And the list of economic problems this causes:
1) 8-12% of GPD spent on environmental problems
2) Provinces are producing oil and paying costs for environmental and health damage
3) Health costs
-19-23% rise in cancer
-750,000 respitory illness related deaths
-190 million people sick from contaminated water
-Disease, lukemia
And the list of social costs:
1) 51,000 protests in one year
2) Peaceful protests have turned violent and subsequently shut down by government
3) Videos and websites on the Internet expose the social unrest in China to the world
4) Communist party worries its stability is at stake
What Will China Do?
In the past China has had problems and attempted (or at least claim to have attempted) solutions. So far, they have pledged to reduce energy inefficency, increase renewable energy sources, and other goals and already have they reduced such goals. Even in the face of the Olympics, they have made some changes (planting trees, outlawing many cars) and cut back some goals because they are unrealistic or too costly to their economic progress.
SEPA, China's equivalent to the EPA, is trying a grassroots approach to making such changes. While this may be the only way to affect change, it's not working. SEPA lacks authority with local governments. They are trying to make assessments of environmental damage and issuing laws to correct them but barely 10% of such laws get enforced.
The problem is SEPA lacks the ability to give incentives for compliance. This is where the government comes in. They must be more transparent with information and allow the extent of the environmental damage to be released to the public. Then, they must raise fines for breaking laws and stop corrupt officials from taking bribes to let factories slip past laws. They must also stop pressuring the Chinese to quadruple its economy by 400%! The biggest detriment to the environmental crisis is pressure to be as efficient and profitable as possible and many times this means being environmentally unsustainable. In the end, the cost will far outweigh the savings and growth China is experiencing now.
Who's to blame?
1)MNCs are being blamed by the Chinese government for pressuring Chinese factories to produce too much. They are not operating with sustainable practices. They are not calling for reform because it would be too costly. They are contributing, as the previous article also supports, to pollution with e-waste. MNCs do not remove business if they find out a factory is polluting too much and they need to be.
2)Domestic Factories and People MNCs claim that it is the local factories and local population that contribute even more greatly to pollution.
3)Chinese Government for cracking down on activists. They allow small protests but shut down anything they feel is threatening the party. They are not enforcing laws and even the laws they enforce do not fine enough to give incentive to change. The government is also not transparent enough about the extent of the environmental crisis. They are pressuring businesses too hard to achieve huge economic gains.
4)Foreign Governments The Chinese pollution is affecting the entire world. However, U.S. and other nations that are calling for China to stop its pollution also need to make domestic reforms. In order to be an authority to China on climate change and environmental change, the U.S. must reform itself, too.
So what's the problem
The environment is at risk. However, the cost to start environmental reform and restructure businesses to be more sustainable is too much up front. It's hard for China to realize the potential future savings and they are not willing to take an economic hit for it.
Also, the Communist system is at risk. The government does not want to be democratized and they feel the conditions needed for environmental change (transparency, media access, and more power to NGOs) will undermine Communist ideals.
The only way for China to turn this around is to start from the bottom up. Factories need to call for incentives to slow CO2 emissions and pollution. Media needs to call for more freedom and transparency of information. MNCs and foreign companies need to realize the importance of the environment and take an economic hit. They need to slow demand for goods and provide a model for change by changing their own practices abroad. NGOs need to gain more power, educate the masses, and provide resources for changing.
I feel that without slow and steady, grassroots progress, China's water source will diminish, forests will turn to desert, the air quality will make many regions unlivable, and China's reputation will be forever tarnished. China may think they are securing their future by growing economically, but they are actually ensuring failure by ignoring its environmental concerns.
In this article, Elizabeth Economy believes that China's recent economic progress is causing a massive environmental decline that may reverse all of China's success and cause the Communist party to lose everything it has gained. She blames local people for wasting resources, local governments for being corrupt and not enforcing laws, factories for ignoring reforms, MNCs for inefficiency and lack of concern, the Chinese government for withholding information while not providing incentives to be more environmentally friendly, and, finally, the International community for both placing too much pressure on China to perform economic miracles and not providing a model of environmental reform for the nation to follow. There are a whole list of problems and consequences with few solutions and the Communist government may lose out whether they do or they don't.
Bottom Up Approach
This is an absolutely necessary approach to turning around China's environmental sins. Economy emphasizes that the government can impose restrictions and offer incentives but it must be NGOs, local governments, factories, and the people that call for the reforms. Local businesses have some of the worst emissions rates and need incentives to stop. As it is right now, it is cheaper to violate environmental laws and pay fines than spend the money to fix their factories.
It is only the bottom that can enforce environmental change. These people are NGOs who can educate a broader population more effectively than the government or international agencies can. These groups, along with the population, see the damage being caused to China and the consequences of pollution so they know better than anyone what needs to happen and how it can happen.
What is going on over there?
This is just a brief, succinct list of all problems in China:
1) Consumed 2.4 billion tons of coal in 2006 (the number is rising)
2) China has 16 of 20 most polluted cities in the world
3) 14,000 new cars hit the road every day in China (more gas emissions)
4) Urbanization, the inefficient way buildings are being constructed, and the increase in electronic appliance use because of this
5) Deforestation from timber needs, soil contamination from acid rain, loss of biodiversity, and desertification
6) Climate change
7) Water shortages from leaky pipes, agricultural needs, polluted water, less rain
And the list of environmental problems this causes:
1) Acid rain in China, Japan, Korea and pollutants in U.S.
2) Pollution in Pacific Ocean
3) Loss of seafood supply
4) Largest CO2 emitter in the world
5) Deforestation in other areas of the world from illegal timber consumption
And the list of economic problems this causes:
1) 8-12% of GPD spent on environmental problems
2) Provinces are producing oil and paying costs for environmental and health damage
3) Health costs
-19-23% rise in cancer
-750,000 respitory illness related deaths
-190 million people sick from contaminated water
-Disease, lukemia
And the list of social costs:
1) 51,000 protests in one year
2) Peaceful protests have turned violent and subsequently shut down by government
3) Videos and websites on the Internet expose the social unrest in China to the world
4) Communist party worries its stability is at stake
What Will China Do?
In the past China has had problems and attempted (or at least claim to have attempted) solutions. So far, they have pledged to reduce energy inefficency, increase renewable energy sources, and other goals and already have they reduced such goals. Even in the face of the Olympics, they have made some changes (planting trees, outlawing many cars) and cut back some goals because they are unrealistic or too costly to their economic progress.
SEPA, China's equivalent to the EPA, is trying a grassroots approach to making such changes. While this may be the only way to affect change, it's not working. SEPA lacks authority with local governments. They are trying to make assessments of environmental damage and issuing laws to correct them but barely 10% of such laws get enforced.
The problem is SEPA lacks the ability to give incentives for compliance. This is where the government comes in. They must be more transparent with information and allow the extent of the environmental damage to be released to the public. Then, they must raise fines for breaking laws and stop corrupt officials from taking bribes to let factories slip past laws. They must also stop pressuring the Chinese to quadruple its economy by 400%! The biggest detriment to the environmental crisis is pressure to be as efficient and profitable as possible and many times this means being environmentally unsustainable. In the end, the cost will far outweigh the savings and growth China is experiencing now.
Who's to blame?
1)MNCs are being blamed by the Chinese government for pressuring Chinese factories to produce too much. They are not operating with sustainable practices. They are not calling for reform because it would be too costly. They are contributing, as the previous article also supports, to pollution with e-waste. MNCs do not remove business if they find out a factory is polluting too much and they need to be.
2)Domestic Factories and People MNCs claim that it is the local factories and local population that contribute even more greatly to pollution.
3)Chinese Government for cracking down on activists. They allow small protests but shut down anything they feel is threatening the party. They are not enforcing laws and even the laws they enforce do not fine enough to give incentive to change. The government is also not transparent enough about the extent of the environmental crisis. They are pressuring businesses too hard to achieve huge economic gains.
4)Foreign Governments The Chinese pollution is affecting the entire world. However, U.S. and other nations that are calling for China to stop its pollution also need to make domestic reforms. In order to be an authority to China on climate change and environmental change, the U.S. must reform itself, too.
So what's the problem
The environment is at risk. However, the cost to start environmental reform and restructure businesses to be more sustainable is too much up front. It's hard for China to realize the potential future savings and they are not willing to take an economic hit for it.
Also, the Communist system is at risk. The government does not want to be democratized and they feel the conditions needed for environmental change (transparency, media access, and more power to NGOs) will undermine Communist ideals.
The only way for China to turn this around is to start from the bottom up. Factories need to call for incentives to slow CO2 emissions and pollution. Media needs to call for more freedom and transparency of information. MNCs and foreign companies need to realize the importance of the environment and take an economic hit. They need to slow demand for goods and provide a model for change by changing their own practices abroad. NGOs need to gain more power, educate the masses, and provide resources for changing.
I feel that without slow and steady, grassroots progress, China's water source will diminish, forests will turn to desert, the air quality will make many regions unlivable, and China's reputation will be forever tarnished. China may think they are securing their future by growing economically, but they are actually ensuring failure by ignoring its environmental concerns.
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