The current print edition of The New Republic (online here for now, when the next edition comes on line you will want to find the “07.09.08″ edition) has a China focus with several articles well-worth reading. Since we here at CELB tend toward the environmental, I will direct your attention to an article by Brad Plumer entitled “Cultural Devolution: Solving China’s environmental catastrophe.” Read the whole thing because it’s good, and Brad is a nice guy, and it quotes some really, really knowledgeable people about China’s environmental straights.
The article concludes that, unglamorous though they may be, efforts devoted to teaching, training, and capacity building in China with a focus on enforcement of existing laws, will yield better results than those devoted to trying to mold or change national policy or goals.
Offering technical advice on, say, energy efficiency may sound perversely trivial in the face of the runaway destruction of the Chinese landscape. But, for now, steps like these may be the best remedy China could receive for its ailing environment–at least until the Chinese public begins demanding greener growth and even more robust protection.
Many people I respect hold the same opinion. Here’s Barbara Finamore, who directs the Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) China program, as quoted in the TNR article:
Right now, governments spend a lot of time imploring Beijing to take steps to curb its pollution. They might get further, however, by helping the central government implement the laws it’s already passed. Finamore points out, for instance, that if China enforced all the building codes it has on the books, it could cut its energy use dramatically. NRDC is training Chinese building inspectors, who often don’t understand the codes, and helping set up independent certifiers to act as watchdogs. But too many international green groups, Wen [Bo, a prominent green activist] notes, avoid this hands-on approach, instead staying in Beijing, writing papers and trying to influence national policy.
And here’s Elizabeth Economy, Starr Senior Fellow and Director for Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, in Foreign Affairs
China, for its part, will undoubtedly continue to place a priority on gaining easy access to financial and technological assistance. Granting this, however, would be the wrong way to go. Joint efforts between the United States and China, such as the recently announced project to capture methane from 15 Chinese coal mines, are important, of course. But the systemic changes needed to set China on a new environmental trajectory necessitate a bottom-up overhaul. One way to start would be to promote energy efficiency in Chinese factories and buildings. Simply bringing these up to world standards would bring vast gains. International and Chinese NGOs, Chinese environmental protection bureaus, and MNCs could audit and rate Chinese factories based on how well their manufacturing processes and building standards met a set of energy-efficiency targets. Their scores (and the factors that determined them) could then be disclosed to the public via the Internet and the print media, and factories with subpar performances could be given the means to improve their practices.
Congratulations to all those working in the vineyards in China to make change happen from the bottom-up.
8 responses so far ↓
1 P. Stolz // Jul 1, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Good article.
2 Rob // Jul 1, 2008 at 2:47 pm
I should say that it’s not only enforcing laws that already exist, and teaching people about efficiency, etc. It is encouraging people to practice what they already know.
It reminds me that even my grandmother in Canada used to wash her plastic bags and use them again and again. I think she also understood all the things that one bucket of water can be used for.
I think everyone inherently knows that it is possible and desirable to conserve and to be clean. They need to be convinced that it is culturally acceptable and financially beneficial to return to (or maintain) those values.
3 Rob // Jul 1, 2008 at 3:20 pm
By the way, we’re working with DRC of State Council, MEP, China National Institute of Standardization, and a UK consultancy (E4tech) to develop a standard methodology for calculating the GHG emissions intensity of transportation fuels in China. We hope the tool can be used by fuel providers to understand their fuel chains and reduce GHG emission intensity of fuels over time.
We also hope the tool can be used by government to understand fuel chains in China, and create policy that will help average transportation fuel GHG emission decrease over time.
Policy change and grassroots thinking - win-win?
4 Crossroads // Jul 3, 2008 at 1:35 am
Nice pikup.
If there is one area that I would say offers the most hope it is that the average Zhou is now representing the true bottoms, and is pushing back.
5 years ago, that was not the case, and I think it is this change that I think will redefine the role of NGOs, it will redefine the way things are reported, and it will add a more tangible element of accountability.
just look at the events over the last week where citizens took a stroll, burned a building, captured it on mobile phones, uploaded to the internet, and essentially through that brought Beijing’s fist down onto the local officials.
and this happened in Shanghai 3 months ago, in Xiamen 12 months ago, and I expect it will only continue to occur.
R
http://www.china-crossroads.com
5 cmcelwee // Jul 3, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Rob: Good points. Teaching is absolutely crucial, and, if handled correctly very effective. As I’ve noted before, US highways were significantly cleaned up in less than a decade by a very well designed anti-littering campaign. Thanks for all you and The Innovation Center for Energy and Transportation do for China and the world!
6 cmcelwee // Jul 3, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Rich: Agreed. I know there is still some sensitivity about allowing NGOs to operate in the grass-roots advocacy space, but I truly do not think this is an area where the leadership has anything to fear, and, indeed, can solidify its legitimacy at the expense of corrupt local officials by encouraging local, grass-roots participation in environmental decision-making.
7 Crossroads // Jul 4, 2008 at 1:56 am
Charlie
Apologize for such a shameless plug, but on Crossroads, we are having a debate on NGOs in China - and their current opportunities, the “fear” factor, etc.
Chekc it out
8 cmcelwee // Jul 4, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Plugs are always welcome. Thank for the heads up, I’ll be over there.
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