The country’s rapid economic growth is taking place at a grave environmental cost. The targets it had set to protect the environment in energy efficiency and pollution emissions have failed. China is the world’s largest consumer of coal and, behind the United States, is the second-largest producer of greenhouse gases.
China has set a unit energy-consumption reduction target of 20% for the five-year period from 2006 to 2010. To attain this goal, annual reduction should be about 4% during the five-year period. National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), figures show that China will fail to meet its target of reducing energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by 4% this year. Only Beijing and five other provinces or municipalities have passed the test.
Most officials don’t want to take the risk of buying new technology or trying alternate methods of economic growth, under the “green GDP” pilot projects in 10 provinces and municipalities in which the cost of environmental degradation is highlighted alongside the economic growth figures of specific regions.
National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Minister Ma Kai said:
it is extremely hard to achieve this year’s goal
He cited problems with China’s industrial structure and a lack of supportive policies also warning of a possible failure this year with energy-guzzling and heavily-polluting industries continuing to be established.
Pollution in China
Coal-fired power plants account for a majority of the pollution China emits.
Many factories also ignore the law and pump toxic waste into rivers and lakes.
Car exhaust fumes which are unlikely to be reduced quickly.
Policies like higher export taxes to be imposed to dissuade companies from exporting goods that involve a high consumption of energy and cause serious pollution are being pursued by the government. However people are unlikely to take to technological innovation due to the costs involved or develop forms of renewable energy at the cost of quick economic growth. So as I perceive it China will still go on polluting.