China and the price of pollution

Quote

“Let him who possesses a field, so partake of its yearly fruits, that he may not suffer the ground to be injured by his negligence, but let him endeavour to hand it down to posterity as he received it, or even better cultivated.” John Calvin, 1554

News

Today China announced that 2012 delivered the slowest annual growth for China since 1999 – at a ‘mere’ 7.8%.  At the same time people in Beijing and other northern cities have been languishing under record levels of air pollution in the last week. 

The new leadership taking over the world’s second largest economy in March will certainly have their minds focused on keeping the economy growing, as this has propelled China to unprecedented influence on the world stage in recent decades.  But at what price? 

It is generally accepted that environmental damage is an unavoidable consequence of rapid industrialisation and the transition from a low income to a middle income economy.  When a country is more wealthy it can afford cleaner vehicles, factories and power stations, it is argued.  But can China afford not to curb its emissions now? 

This is not just an economic dilemma, it is a relational one also, in three respects.  There’s the relationship between those who use and those who abuse the environment.  Everyone benefits from a clean, healthy environment, but only a few people – both in industry and government – take the decisions about what levels of pollution are acceptable, which in China’s case seem woefully high. 

Secondly, the relationship between those who gain the most from economic growth – the highest earners who can afford air conditioning in their homes and cars – and those who benefit a little, migrant workers in poor housing, or the elderly and sick, who are more likely to suffer respiratory and other illnesses owing to pollution.

Lastly the relationship between the generations: even if one generation agrees that environmental damage is an acceptable price for maximising growth, the generations that follow have no say in that decision, and will be obliged to pay for the accumulated debts and diminished potential of the land, rivers and air.  Is it right for the children to pay for their fathers’ environmental sins?

Read on…

For a good introduction to the Christian perspective on the environment, read the Cambridge Paper “A burning issue” by Dr Bob White here.

Walk the talk

You may not be responsible for the pollution around where you live, but that doesn’t stop you from taking an initiative to clear some of it up; why not organise a litter picking afternoon with some other families or friends?

The last word

From the Bible, Psalm 104, verses 10-12: “[God] makes springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains. They give water to all the beasts of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. The birds of the air nest by the waters; they sing among the branches.”