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China's New Ecological "Must-avoid Scenario":? All Water Polluted, All Rain Acidic

The National People's Congress Standing Committee recently completed a report which investigated the enforcement of environmental laws in China. The vice-chair of the Committee, Cheng Huaren said that half of this 21 pages, 11,000 Chinese character report depicts the ecological scenario that China must avoid.? In the first half of this year, China's GDP, energy consumption and major pollutant output levels rather than decreasing as hoped, continued to increase. The report said, "Each aspect of work outlined in the eleventh Five-year plan pays close attention to the protection of the environment. Many comrades are concerned about whether or not these goals can be realized."

Solid waste: “Reduce Overproduction” – occupied and ruined land surpasses 33, 000 acres

The study discovered that although China's industrial solid waste has achieved a higher level of reuse, progress towards the reduction of solid waste production is slow; in fact, year after year, production of waste shows an increasing trend, and disposal requirements are always greater. In 2005, 1.34 billion tons of solid waste were produced, 64% more than in 2000. Nationally, nearly 8 billion tons of this type of waste were disposed of, taking up or ruining at least 33, 000 acres of land, resulting in serious pollution of soil and water.

Progress in the field of safe disposal of household garbage is fairly slow. According to estimates, in 2005, although the national urban garbage collection and disposal rate reached 52%, probably only 35% of the garbage was safely disposed of. This is to say that nearly half of urban household garbage is not disposed of properly; rather, it is accumulating and polluting the environment. Even if that garbage were to be collected and disposed of, about 15% of it would not be disposed of properly.

Hazardous waste and medical waste management is also developing slowly. The relevant State Council department has drafted the "National Hazardous Waste and Hospital Waste Disposal Facilities Construction Plan", in all providing an estimated investment of 15 billion yuan (approx. US$ 1.9 billion) for the construction of 331 new disposal facilities. Up to this point, 70 facilities have already been constructed or are under construction, with an investment of 3.8 billion yuan (approx. US$ 486 million), only 25.3% of planned construction.

Pollution from obsolete electronics is an emerging problem. In 2004, when the National Peoples' Congress Standing Committee revised the Law for the Prevention of Environmental Pollution Caused by Solid Waste, it explicitly stated that producers and vendors must assume responsibility for the recycling and disposal of these products and their packaging. Now, after the law having been in effect for a year and a half, the recycling and disposal of obsolete electronics is still disorderly.

Nearly one third of tested water does not meet the Water Quality Standard Category V

An effective system to curb the increasing decline of China’s water resources has not yet been established. In 2005, the total amount of discharged waste water reached 52,400 million tons, an increase of 26% compared to 2000. The quality of one third of national water resources that have been tested does not meet the water quality standard category V and exhibit widespread loss of ecological function.

Water pollution is mainly caused by industrial waste and domestic sewage. Many older enterprises do not have treatment facilities and directly discharge untreated waste into the rivers. Even some newly build enterprises do not install waste water treatment plants. Furthermore, in those cases where waste water treatment facilities do exist, they are often used only irregularly and the discharged water does not meet the required standards.

One fourth of tested water in the river basin of the Yellow River does not meet the water quality standard category V. Four of the river’s tributaries were found to be particularly polluted. Due to their lacking self-purification ability and the relatively slow current, most of the water resources already suffer from heavy pollution – a very alarming fact!

The Wei River in Shanxi suffers from severe pollution: paper mills on both banks discharge their waste water into the river and domestic sewage is also often directly led into the river. The amount of wastewater discharged into the Wei River reaches more than 600,000,000 tons per year and the chemical oxygen demand (COD; a method using the amount of organic pollutants to determine water quality) amounts to 270,000 tons. This is almost four times the amount in other areas.

He River (Henan Province) is also a tributary of the Yellow River. 40% of the analysed water is inferior to the water quality standard V. The main pollutant is oil, which already presents a significant danger to surface and ground water all over Shanxi and the North-eastern part of the country.

The Fen River, also known as the “mother of all rivers” of Shanxi Province, also suffers from severe pollution: 66% of its water resources do not meet the water quality standard category V.? Down stream from Taiyuan, the river’s ecological function is severely damaged. More than 300,000,000 litres of waterrun from the Fen River into the Yellow River each year. The water’s COD is more than 7.3 times higher than the national water quality standard category III. Ammonia nitrogen is 20 times higher than the standard.

Presently, the water of the Three Georges reservoir has a quality equal to that of the water quality standard category III, but the water quality of the tributaries is continuously decreasing with 57% already ranking in category IV.

The Danjiangkou reservoir, one of the pipelines of the “piping water from the south to the north” project, currently meets the water quality standard category II but is classified only as being medium quality.

One third of China are harmed by acid rain

Restructuring of energy resources, central heating, increase of emission standards for vehicles… In recent years, many localities have placed more emphasis on fighting air pollution. Still, about 40% of Chinese cities suffer from air pollution and do not comply with the national standard II. There are different grades of pollution and the main pollutants are sulphur dioxide and particulates that harm humans’ air passages.

Coal-fired power plants and coking plants are the main source of sulphur dioxide emissions. According to statistics, only 14% (53GW) of coal-fired power plants nationwide are equipped with facilities for filtering sulphur. The department in charge states that only 65 of more than 680 coking plants in Shanxi Province have completed the examination and approval procedures on environmental protection. Furthermore, only about 5% (30 companies) are able to consistently meet the emission standard.

Particulates are the air pollutants that have the largest influence on people’s health and are the main pollutant in Chinese cities. In 2005, 11.82 million tons of smoke and dust were emitted in China. Such a high figure not only indicates that the Five Year Plan’s target to reduce particulates by 9% was not achieved, but that there was even an increase in particulate emission. The target to reduce dust emissions from the industry was not met as those emissions totalled 9.11 million tons in 2005.

Need to increase powers of environmental protection

At the sixth national convention on environmental protection, held in April this year, State Council leaders pointed out that, first, the attention dedicated to environmental protection clearly lags behind that paid to economic development; second, the structure of industry is illogical, the pattern of economic growth is extensive, with time and labour costs, energy consumption and levels of waste discharged all high; third, environmental protection laws are not strict enough, are not always followed, and enforcement of these laws is weak.

China has already introduced policies such as “standards of scientific development and trial evaluations for local Party leaders”, and “the temporary provision of punishment for failing to protect the environment” in order to establish a strict responsibility system for environmental protection.

The chairman of the environmental resource committee of the National People’s Congress Committee, Mao Ru Bai, revealed that the committee is investigating the issue of “ the power of punishment” ----- increasing the power of punishment for the transgression of environmental protection laws, and increasing related fines in order to alter the status quo of “the low cost of transgression and the high cost of keeping the peace”.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

The volunteering spirit saves China

By Xu Yongguang

Not long ago, I wrote an article named "selfless contribution motivates the volunteering spirit ", the thrust of which many people turned out to agree with. One of them sent me the following note: "this is a law of the universe, there's no way that things that are given away are not returned". A non-governmental ecologist, the founder of Beijing Global Village, also said: "The volunteering spirit is definitely rewarded at some point. This reward is a mental one, rather than a tangible thing". In a society that values money, authority and privilege, there is less "selflessness" to pursue mental reward through contributing to society and serving others. What would society be like if everyone seeks fortune but disregards the happiness gained from helping others?

"New Beijing" reported that on a hot afternoon last year in Beijing, an old lady in her seventies collapsed outside Beijing train station. As she called for help, many people looked on, but no one reached out a helping hand, called the police or an ambulance. The old lady died three hours later, still under the watchful eyes of those surrounding her. When a journalist arrived and asked why nobody had called the police, everyone answered either that they were just passing by, or "busy". It seems that apathy has become a universal, if unconscious, trait. As early as 2500 years ago, Mengzi asserted that "Everyone has a kind heart". Modern psychologists describe it as "altruism". This deed, based on the humility of doing harm to oneself but at the same time helping others, has been discarded today, as the example at the train station demonstrates.

We live in changing times. After decades of a planned economy, the power and capacity of the government, and its responsibilities, are too centralised, which has the effect of making it difficult for volunteering services to find a market, and so they become increasingly unavailable. Facing the beat of the modern market, many people have lost their ideals, have no ambition, and forget their affections when they face the prospect of making profit, doing things that are bad for others, but good for themselves.

All Chinese with a conscience should know this: China must persist with market reforms and prioritise efficiency. But as the Chinese have lost their moral values, we can't imagine the results of a society which only pursues money. In the Chunqiu period, the famous minister Guan Zhong said "People can learn the feudal ethical code only if they are fed". He was referring to the relationship between material progress and the development of civilization. He also said "A country will die if it has no feudal ethical code". Here he was talking about the relationship between civilization and a country's prosperity.

I have been involved with non-governmental organizations for 20 years. I truly understand the great effect the volunteering spirit has in reconstructing social morality. Volunteers selflessly donate money, materials, time and knowledge, as well as purifying society's customs. Though volunteering services create limited GDP (for example, the Hope Project donated RMB 300 million towards the construction of four kilometers of subway line in Shanghai), they benefit society in spiritual, moral and cultural terms that money can't buy. The volunteering spirit promotes harmony in encouraging people's mutual help, love, trust and benefit, which is also society's benefit. For all the above reasons, I say: come on volunteers, save the heart of the people, save China!

Are volunteers really selfless?

By Xu Yongguang

Ms. Zheng works at the Shenzhen Local Taxation Bureau and is also responsible for a voluntary organization. “It is really enjoyable work and I’m happy to help,” she says. “What you get from voluntary work cannot be bought with money.”

Once, I met a young mother with a little baby who was donating to Project Hope in her baby’s name.? She told me that the donation was meant not only to help the children in rural areas but also to cultivate her baby to be a person with a loving heart.

We are used to saying that the essence of the volunteering spirit is selflessness, however, the examples above prove that some people pursue their own goals whilst doing voluntary work. Are their motivations in violation of the volunteering spirit?

Here are some sayings about helping others:

“To give is better than to receive” “Contribute with happiness” - as preached by the church to instruct people to be kind-hearted.

“Give roses to others and the fragrance lingers on your hands” Is a saying used by voluntary organizations to get their members mobilized.

“I serve the interests of each in society and they do the same to me” This was the most popular slogan for citizen’s behavior in the 1950s and 1960s.

“Always be ready to help others” has been advocated by the government as a target for social morals.

“Be united and help each other” has been incorporated into the socialist outlook on “eight honors and eight shames” initiated by Hu Jintao, Chairman of The People’s Republic of China.

“Goodness will be rewarded” This moral creed has been handed down for hundreds of years in China.

All of these slogans emphasize the self interest of contribution instead of the selfless spirit. Of course, “self-interest” does not always mean material profit. Rather it is the feeling of happiness, honor and the realization of value of the contribution.

The volunteering spirit embodies contributing to society and fulfilling your own needs and inspires volunteers to benefit other people as well as themselves. The Asia-Pacific Conference of the 10th International Association of Volunteers was held on October 2005 and ratified the Hong Kong Declaration on Voluntary Work. One of the Declaration’s basic principles is “Volunteers not only help others but also benefit themselves.”

The initial motivation of volunteers is self-interested contribution because any ideals and morals that we uphold cannot go against human nature. Throughout the ages, after all, there have been few people that contributing selflessly. Whoever contributes completely selflessly is called a saint. But if we measure the volunteering spirit against what a saint does, are we trying to shut ordinary people out of the voluntary services? It would surely block the spread of volunteering spirit.

The volunteering service in the U.S. creates the equivalent of over $200 billion. Why are the voluntary services so developed in a market-based economy characterized by utilitarian philosophy? For one thing, they never regard the voluntary work as selfless contribution. Americans know that voluntary service is a good thing that benefits both the cause and the volunteer, it can even be enjoyable. ?Meanwhile, it is a citizen’s responsibility. If an American high school graduate fails to fulfill the required amount of voluntary service, he is unlikely to be admitted to any university.

When the daughter of a director of China Youth Development Foundation applied to American universities for programs, she mentioned that her father was a volunteer in the application forms and, unexpectedly, she was soon admitted by the school - partly due to this interesting fact. Maybe this is a way that Americans express their admiration for Chinese volunteers.

Back to the reality of China.? We not only hope to regard the hero of selfless contribution as the model of our times but also hope that every ordinary person can be encouraged and praised to contribute with self-interest and that more and more people can be involved in voluntary work to help others and improve themselves.

Opinions from All Walks of Life

Environmental emergency response needs more than just plans

It is clear that China has already entered the era of environmental emergencies. According to statistics, between 1993 and 2004, 21152 environmental mishaps occurred in China. Of them, 566 were considered "large mishaps," and 374 were considered "extremely large," in which there were human casualties. Environmental protection departments everywhere are actively formulating and perfecting environmental emergency detection and management strategies, of which perhaps the most important are environmental emergency response plans.

Environmental emergency response needs more than just words, however. Emergencies are complicated, often requiring systematic, extensive response from many departments. After formulating environmental emergency plans, it is important to organize drills. The governments or environmental departments of large cities such as Shenyang and Hefei have organized environmental emergency response drills, but for the most part, county-level governments have not done so. This situation can bring about a series of problems. Look at it this way: If the military wants to assess its combat capacity, it carries out military exercises; the more, the better. It's hard to imagine simply formulating strategies without trying them out, then expecting to win on the battlefield.

Source: People’s Daily

The environment is a key productive force

The notion that? “technology is the number one productive force” is deeply understood by everyone and practiced constantly, greatly accelerating the development of the national economy. However, what is productivity? Is it in fact “the capacity to conquer and rebuild nature”?

Admittedly, technology is the main force of production, carrying out a momentous function in terms of conquering and rebuilding nature. However, technology has two sides, so that as we are enjoying the comfort and pleasure brought by technology, it also brings us many problems, even crises. Fundamentally, the basis of our existence - the environment - has been destroyed as never before by means of technology, and with the issue of environmental sustainability increasingly prominent, where indeed will the next habitat for humans be? Therefore, if conquering and rebuilding nature is seen as the basis of productivity, then the environment is a key productive force, because technology can play a key role in the process of protecting the environment, and so protecting the environment also protects productivity.

Source: People’s Daily

Don’t replace the tree shade by the landscape

The sparse use of, or complete lack of shade trees in the green spaces of cities is becoming a common problem.? Ornamental flower beds and water features are typically considered when planning green spaces. However, little or no thought is given to shade providing trees and associated benefits for pedestrian users. As far as the use of shade trees in city landscape design, it should decided upon by the experts instead of the senior government officers.

Green area without, or with only a few, shade providing trees are a common sight in cities. Especially on sweltering summer days, city residents are impacted by the lack of shade trees. In some places such as newly-developing areas, residential areas, city squares and tourist attractions, designers have paid significant attention to the diversity of trees, the layout of groves and the arrangement of water features. However, they have failed to consider activities such as walking and parking and the impact of shade providing trees on these activities. Although the places are typically very beautiful, the planting of trees is not successful because there are green areas without shady trees, there are trees without open shade and there are flowers and grasses without cooling temperature.

We hope that landscape design experts and government officers will research the use of trees in public spaces and review plans while keeping the concepts of “more trees, more beautiful scene ” and “old trees mean long history” in mind. We should make the effort to design cities where every pavement is avenue, every residential area is a shady, leafy green zone and every city is sea of green.

Source: People’s Daily

While meeting with American guests, Pan Yue pointed out that working towards a solution to environmental problems requires the cooperation of all countries.

When meeting with John Edwards of the U.S. Democratic Party from North Carolina, the deputy director of the National Department for Environmental Protection stated that the issue of the environment is global, and can be settled via international cooperation.

Pan Yue said that China has the world’s fastest rate of economic growth, and at the same time is the fastest consumer of energy and construction materials, and the number one emitter of sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide and so on. Now that the Chinese government has realized that increasing GDP alone cannot solve all problems, it is clear that sustainable development is necessary for a secure environmental future.? The Chinese people must look for renewable resources and green technology to reconcile economic growth and environmental conservation.

Pan Yue also pointed out that western, developed countries on the one hand foster the development of energy consumptive industries, and on the other hand set up green commerce. China must realize that everything can be distributed to other areas but the pollution, because there is only one globe. The issue of environmental conservation is global, and China needs support from developed countries in solving environmental problems.

John Edwards agreed that international cooperation is very important for solving issues with the environment, and he believes that the Chinese government has the capacity to resolve these issues .

Source: State Environmental Protection Administration of P.R.China

Assistant Commissioner Zhun Guangyao: Implementing the ‘Global Action Plan’ requires substantive action

During its press conference following the second intergovernmental review the GPA, the Executive Director of the State Environmental Protection Administration expressed his hopes that the Assistant Commissioner to the administration Zhu Guangyao became the Assistant Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. Zhu Guangyao pointed out that the protection of the marine environment is essential to sustainable development. Therefore, the execution of the ‘Global Action Plan’ requires global, regional and local action.

Zhu Guangyao emphasized the following steps that each country should take: one, strengthen political will to protect the maritime environment in order to avoid disrupting regional and global action. Two: strengthen policy, formulate tax policies to reflect the price of environmental protection, and take additional measures to maximize the effectiveness of such policies, and increase investments toward protecting the maritime environment. Three: construct and implement in a practical way the “巴厘technical support and capacity building strategic plan”, take additional measures to increase funds and technical assistance to developing nations, and solve the problems which arise when developing nations are unable to implement the “Global Action Plan” due to inadequate funds and lack of capacity. Fourth, foster international cooperation; strengthen cooperation for the protection of the marine environment across countries, regions and on an international level.

The commissioner expressed that the United Nations Environmental Protection Agency has continued to be concerned about the state of China’s protection of the environment, which is one of the Agency’s principle areas of work. In the next five years, China plans to discharge 70% of its sewage treatment, which is second to none. Developed countries should take further steps to increase funding and provide technical assistance to help developing countries regulate their pollution.

Source: State Environmental Protection Administration of P.R.China