Q: Developed countries have followed a path of
"polluting, and then controlling and protecting." China is now
doing the same thing. How great is the economic loss caused by
environmental pollution in China? What measures will be taken to
strengthen environmental protection and reduce
pollution?
A: The question of how much economic loss is caused by
environmental pollution is a hot issue that many experts, scholars
and government officials are extremely concerned with. Since
methods of calculation differ, estimates of economic loss caused by
environmental pollution are different. According to an incomplete
estimate, the annual economic loss caused by environmental
pollution in China amounts to 2 to 8 percent of the GDP. There are
also other losses caused by ecological destruction. As a result,
the government has introduced the concept of Green GDP, mainly in
the hope of finding a good way to combine economic development with
environmental protection. In this way, China can reach the target
of both protecting the environment and developing the economy.
The main cause of environmental pollution is the extensive
economic development mode that China has long followed, as well as
the fragility of the environment and other historic problems that
remain. With regards to the current environmental situation, China
is taking measures to further enhance protection of the environment
in the following six aspects:
First, using the international experience for reference,
actively facilitating the development of a cyclical economy,
applying the idea of a cyclical economy to its policies, laws,
plans and standards of environmental protection, striving to
establish a scientific development system suitable for China's
conditions, and promoting the building of a society that follows
cycles;
Second, keeping close watch on the environment, exercising
administration by law, eliminating the backward equipment that
causes environmental pollution by optimizing the industrial
structure, and promoting clean production to ensure that increased
production does not mean increased pollution, while, actively
implementing a system of licensing for discharging contaminants to
gradually realize the target of both developing the economy and
improving the environment;
Third, taking care of the environment in accordance with the
ecological system, making concentrated efforts to deal with
environmental problems in key regions such as the Yangtze River,
the Yellow River and Taihu Lake, as well as their surrounding
cities, strengthening control over the discharge of nitrogen and
phosphor into seas and rivers, preventing the maritime environment
from being polluted by land-sourced pollutants, and carrying out
measures to protect key ecologically sensitive areas, resource
development areas and nature reserves;
Fourth, establishing an operational mechanism for pollution
treatment that is guided by the government, funded by multiple
sources and operated under the market system, and gradually
increasing the fee for urban sewage disposal, to ensure the
construction and normal operation of pollution treatment
facilities;
Fifth, encouraging the public to take part in the protection and
supervision of the environment, improving the transparency of
administration and information to provide conditions where the
public can know about and supervise environmental protection work,
and maintaining the public's environmental rights and interests;
and
Sixth, relying on scientific and technological progress to
protect the environment, further integrating various scientific and
technological powers and bringing them into play, making
concentrated efforts to study and solving difficult, hot-button
issues related to the environment and development, and striving to
solve more environmental problems with relatively less input.
The human beings only have one Earth. Environmental protection
is a global issue and is also our utmost responsibility. We should
not only improve our environmental conditions but also aim to
realize a harmony between human and nature, as well as a balanced
development of economy, society and environment.