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China Meet the West, the West, China. From: Simon Dunne, Change Report  Photograph: Xinhua, Li Xin/AP We are motivated by fear. It causes insecurities, war and hatred, but now it could save humankind. Al Gore brought our environmental fear to the forefront last year, elevating himself two stories to show us how we’re destroying the world. Gore scared us into action with his predictions for the soaring CO2 in the atmosphere and the carnage to follow if the world continues along its path, maintaining the status quo. Time was on our side then, but now there’s a problem: China is pouring black, gooey tar all over the status quo.
With by far the highest growth rate in the world, at 11% per year, China is a runaway train of economic development1. As the train runs, coal is shoveled onto the fire. China currently relies on coal for a whopping 75% of its energy consumption with a new plant being built every week2. Not that they can be blamed. The West has been enjoying guilt-free development for 150 years, all the while bringing the atmosphere, which we all have to share, to the boiling point. Can developing countries like China be expected to take an energy high road as they try to play economic catch-up? I say yes. Our progress as a species has always been a result of learning and will always continue to be. We would never have built the hybrid car without first learning to build the wheel. Learning leads to innovation which leads to more learning. It is the eternal spiral of the two that has encircled all of our greatest achievements throughout history. We are not wrong to expect China to learn from the mistakes of the West and follow with innovation. But perhaps it’s a slightly hypocritical expectation. As we deflect responsibility to China like UV rays, the West continues to walk its path of pollution, often clinging to the antiquated notion that the economy and the environment are somehow inversely related, that helping one will hurt the other. Considering that a quarter of Chinese emissions are a result of exports to the West, and that the First World physically ships more than 3 million tonnes of garbage a year to China3, the West cannot deny that it is intertwined with China, and partially responsible with how they develop an energy model. While First World mistakes may lead to some learning (and thus innovation) in China, they will only be a rough guide. Successes in the West need to take the place of mistakes. The stable economies and investment capabilities of the West present it the opportunity to prove the viability of a green economy. Successful examples of ‘green’ in the West will provide the developing world with a model for sustainability without the risk of investment that currently restricts their progress. A little bit of innovation from the West could start a big ball of sustainability rolling in China. The First World needs to re-invent the wheel so that China can re-invent the hybrid car. The timing hinges on the West, because in China, change can happen fast. Developing countries with centralized governments have shown an ability to change with scary speed. China phased out lead in gasoline in little more than a year, something that Europe and the U.S. took many years to achieve. A similar scenario occurred in Brazil in the 1970s. With the OPEC oil embargo all but halting the Brazilian economy, dictator Ernesto Geisel heavily subsidized just about anything to do with ethanol. By the mid-1980s nearly all cars in Brazil ran exclusively on alcohol4. For things to happen quickly in China President Hu Jintao better be convinced that sustainability is the way forward, and he may be already. He acknowledges that the runaway growth rate in China is unsustainable and calls for a future that follows a path of “scientific development” leading to a “harmonious society”. He has often spoken strongly on the climate change issue, stating that: "...We must give prominence to building a resource-conserving, environment-friendly society in our strategy for industrialization and modernization and get every organization and family to act accordingly5." Sadly his claims often reek of Bush-isms. While recognizing the toll of China’s growth, Hu has never the less maintained their astronomical 11% rate for four consecutive years and has continually resisted mandatory emissions controls. For China, innovation may be a hiding in outdated energy policies. The 80s and 90s were particularly leading edge times, when China’s energy policy has been referred to as “California on Steroids”. From 1990-2000 the economy more than doubled, but carbon emissions grew by just one fourth. So what happened? The recent soaring economy resulted in equally soaring energy demands and China all but abandoned energy efficiency programs in exchange for fast and cheap coal. Last year they built 114,000 MW of fossil fuel capacity and plan to build another 95,000 this year. Compare that to a total capacity in Britain of 75,000 MW6. China’s energy policy has its imperfections, but the involvement at the citizen level is encouraging. I was particularly impressed by one practice in sustainability that is so ingenious in its simplicity. Farmers raise fish in their irrigated rice fields; the fish droppings are recycled as natural fertilizer which increases rice production and decreases the use of synthetic fertilizers. At the same time the fish eat insects and weeds, eliminating the need for herbicides and pesticides. And of course, along with the rice, there are fish to eat for dinner7! It’s the sort of integrated systems approach that the West could learn from, expand, and send back to China with added innovation. A global climate change solution needs systems thinking - integrating ideas instead of thinking in segments, connecting dots, and doing it at a global level, free of national barriers. We are on the brink of a social and economic revolution. Let’s help China lead the way. Simon Dunne is Content Manager for the Change Report and can be reached at
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. To view other original articles from Simon go to the ‘Blog’ tab on the Change Report home page. References
http://www.wbcsd.org/plugins/DocSearch/details.asp?type=DocDet&ObjectId=MjY2MzU Diamond, Jared. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSL1874784520071019?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews “Green Dreams”, Bourne, Joel K. Jr., National Geographic. October 2007 http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/10/communist_congress.php http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2007/11/1/11528/3890 http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2007/11/1/12525/7448 |
