When Beijing hosted the Olympics in 2008 much hue and cry was made of the appalling pollution and the fact that one very seldom saw blue sky. There were rumours that the government went to extreme measures to bring the level of contamination down, at least temporarily, such as limiting the number of cars on the city’s roads and shooting chemicals in the sky (which seems counter-productive). Whatever it did, worked and very few athletes complained of the conditions. But after the crowds left the smog and smoke were back and Beijing’s citizens dug out their surgical masks.

China is notorious for its carbon emissions, as well as its apparent reluctance to do anything about them. The perception is not helped much by public statements like those issued in February 2010 by Su Wei, the chief negotiator of China for climate change talks in Copenhagen and the director of the department for combating climate change under the National Development Reform Commission. According to Su Wei, China would not set an upper limit on greenhouse gas emissions as “China’s greenhouse gas emissions have to grow correspondingly as the country still has a long way to go in improving people’s livelihoods and eradicating poverty”.

Su Wei added, however, that the country would do everything it could to fight the negative effects caused by global warming and cut carbon intensity. Not many people took comfort in that.

That was then

By November 2010, China seemed to have changed its tune when, one week before the UN Cancun Conference, it vowed to “effectively control” emissions over the next five years. It also reiterated its dedication to reduce its carbon intensity by 40 – 45% by 2020.

According to Xie Zhenhua, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China has cut carbon emissions by about 1.5 billion tones. This is a result of energy-saving and emission-reduction measures in its 11th Five-Year Plan (2005-2010). “The size of the emission reduction is greater than any other country in the world. This is China’s contribution (to preventing global climate change),” said Xie. Considering that China is the world’s biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, this is less impressive than it sounds.

Looking ahead

What is heartening is the fact that China is dedicated to reducing carbon emissions, carbon intensity and the effects of climate change. It’s been suggested that China might even provide a leading example for the rest of the world. It starts with engaging local municipalities, education and incentives and is being driven by a government that really has no choice.

Pollution is expensive; it costs the country 8 – 12% of its GDP annually, it’s estimated that 460 000 people die from pollution-related causes every year and it has led to large-scale desertification, which will probably never be reversed.

Jonathan Watts, Asia Environment correspondent for the Guardian, says that China’s environmental problems are worse than assumed, but that it’s “doing more to try and solve them than people give them credit for”.

This can be seen in the country’s recognition of its dire water problem (50% of China’s water is considered too contaminated for human consumption), its programme to try and reclaim desert land (which is a very long-term plan – at least 300 years), its intention to address problematic farming methods and the tightening of environmental laws, which are currently vague, ambiguous and not adequately enforced.

China’s environmental problems are many, and attempts to combat them will be fraught with challenges, most notably the continued need for development, but with the government and NGOs finally agreeing to certain measures, and growing public awareness there could be blue skies on China’s horizon.