Environment

Making sure the environment thrives during the stimulus drive

Beijing recently held a national conference on environmental protection last week. Zhou Shengxian, head of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, said that China will increase urban sewage treatment capacity by 10 million tons in 2009 and increase sulfur dioxide scrubbers to coal-fired power generating units.

Other plans for pollution reduction set at the conference:

• Reducing 1.9 million tons of sulfur dioxide
• Reducing 1.12 million tons of carbon monoxide
• Phasing out 10 million tons of iron smelting capacity, six million tons of steel making capacity, 500,000 tons of paper making capacity and power generating units with a total capacity of 15 million kilowatts

One threat to China’s goals for environmental protection that Zhou Shengxian is the recent economic slump. Local governments might begin to prioritize stabilizing the economy over environmental protection. Many factories could decide to stop using pollution-treatment facilities in order to reduce cost. A panel of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development is also taking steps to make sure that this doesn’t happen. In China Daily:

“The central governments should strengthen inspections to prevent the local governments from taking risks of stabilizing economic growth at the cost of environmental protection,” said the suggestion package, exclusively obtained by China Daily yesterday.

The panel voiced its concern that some local governments are still holding the age-long mindset that higher economic growth is a priority despite the fact that a nationwide campaign to promote sustainable development and harmony has been ongoing for years.

Of course, the risk of environmental protection being put on the back burner is being noticed globally due to the current economic crisis. Hopefully, China will follow through on its goals and policies.

Articles on China’s environmentally friendly accomplishments in 2008:

• China punishes 15,000 enterprises over pollution in 2009 - China Daily
• Review of China’s Environmental Protection Industry in 2008 and Outlook for 2009 - CCID Consulting
• “Green” a buzzword in China in 2008 - China Daily

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