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  PlanetSave 5 Jun 06
China: Costs from pollution exceed $200 billion per year
Written by Chris Hawke

BEIJING (AP): China's pollution problems cost the country more than $200 billion a year, a top official said Monday as he called for better legal protection for grassroots groups so they can help clean up the environment.

Damage to China's environment is costing the government roughly 10 percent of the country's gross domestic product, estimated Zhu Guangyao, deputy chief of the State Environmental Protection Agency. China's GDP for 2005 was $2.26 trillion.

Despite the efforts of half a million environmental officials in his agency and other organizations, China's environmental picture is worsening and "allows for no optimism," he said as he released a report that described China's environmental situation as "grave."

"Water, land and soil pollution is serious," the report said. "The Chinese government will mobilize all forces available to solve the pollution problems that are causing serious harm to people's health."

Zhu noted that some local officials are reluctant to help _ and sometimes even work against _ the central government's environmental protection efforts.

After more than 25 years of breakneck growth, China is in the midst of an environmental crisis that has continued to worsen as local authorities fail to enforce regulations meant to counter severe air and water pollution.

Zhu said that his agency is hopeful that nongovernment environmental groups could play "important roles in promoting or pushing governments to solve the environmental problems."

He said the importance of NGOs in China lags behind other countries, and that the environmental watchdog wants to play a more important role in developing "legislation to secure their interests and existence in China."

Environmental groups said such legal protection would be a tremendous help, but cautioned that the environmental agency doesn't have the power to create or pass such a law without the support of top leaders, which was far from guaranteed.

Currently, activists and others who try to blow the whistle on polluting industries are often ignored or suppressed by corrupt local officials who risk losing income if they try to shut down factories.

Some officials also fear being disciplined by the central government if their districts are found in violation of environmental standards.

"China has not had the political environment for NGOs to work independently," said Zhu Chunqian, the head of conservation operations at World Wildlife Fund China. "I think at this moment there is no protection."

Greenpeace's government and public affairs officer, Yu Jie, said local officials remain too focused on economic growth at the expense of the environment and that outspoken activists risk retaliation if they are seen to be too meddlesome.

"If an NGO has legal status then it can use legal weapons to protect itself" and the local environment, said Yu.

PlanetArk 6 Jun 06
China Warns Pollution to Worsen with Economic Boom
Story by Lindsay Beck

CHINA: June 6, 2006 BEIJING - China warned on Monday that its goals for economic growth were in direct conflict with environmental protection and said degradation was worsening despite official efforts to curb pollution.

A paper released by the cabinet on World Environment Day came amid rising public concern about smoggy skies and toxic spills that are poisoning rivers and drinking water, despite government pledges to clean up in time for the 2008 Olympics.

"The conflict between environment and development is becoming ever more prominent," the paper said. "Relative shortage of resources, fragile ecology and insufficient environmental capacity are becoming critical problems hindering China's development."

China's Communist Party has promised to balance economic development with environmental safeguards, after a year in which sandstorms that coated the capital in dust and a chemical spill that poisoned a major river thrust its record on pollution into the global spotlight.

But economic growth has been averaging about 10 percent annually, far greater than the 7.5 percent growth rates on which the government's targets for pollution reduction are based.

"If the economy is growing too rapidly, environmental resources will be faced with tremendous pressures and therefore such development is not sustainable," Zhu Guangyao, a vice-minister at the State Environmental Protection Administration, told a news conference.

Considerations of land and other resources would play a more prominent role in the approval process for large-scale projects, Zhu said. Such projects have sometimes led to riots over environmental pollution in recent years.

Zhu said implementing the central government's guidelines would also be a challenge for local officials who are accustomed to being judged on growth above all else and are fearful of the economic impact of tighter environmental controls.

"Local environmental NGOs do not dare criticise local governments for their unscientific decisions," Zhu said. "Some local governments are reluctant to implement or are even working against environmental laws."

To mark World Environment Day, in Beijing, where 1,000 new vehicles take to the road every day, a quarter of a million people pledged to leave their cars at home, state media reported. But in the city of more than 16 million, there was little discernable impact on the capital's smoggy skies.

And in Shanghai, China's richest city, the local environment bureau was quoted as saying that companies that pollute would find it harder to get loans as their green credentials would be linked to their creditworthiness.

But China's enforcement is still dogged by under-funding and a lack of resources, a senior SEPA official was quoted as saying on the ministry's Web site (www.zhb.gov.cn). "Investment in ecological protection is inadequate," the official said. "We need to adopt more vigorous measures."

(Additional reporting by Chris Buckley and Ben Blanchard)
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