Environment under stress as GDP soars
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PO: Environmental problems are complex and interlinked, but also regional and specific. How should they be handled?
Yu: We cannot just target specific problems, because they may generate new problems. A basic notion in environmental governance is that "symptoms are rooted." Rooted in a whole system.
To achieve systemic understanding, we need systematic methods. Attention must be paid to several aspects.
First, the environment is always changing. How can we perceive and monitor these changes? The ability to monitor is a basic issue in environmental governance.
Second, can the perceived changes be properly managed? Protection is one aspect, preventing further deterioration is another aspect. This is basic-level security work.
Third, how can we best repair and rehabilitate contaminated or damaged areas? These are all crucial.
PO: What level has China reached in environmental technology and research, and how much research funding is available?
Yu: China has done a lot of work and made big investments in this area. But there is still a gap between China and the developed countries in environmental monitoring and environmental control technology. We have to catch up.
PO: Compared with developed countries, how big is the gap?
Yu: Environmental problems are related to economic development. Western countries industrialized much earlier than China. Many of the environmental problems we are facing now appeared in Western countries 20 years ago, or even earlier.
With the rapid development of China over the last 30 years, these problems have come to the forefront. China has invested heavily to control environmental pollution and improve ecological management.
Overall, China has made rapid progress in environmental technologies. Being able to borrow applications from Western countries has been a big help.
PO: Are there conflicts in China between economic development, energy-saving and ecology?
Yu: Environmental problems are often the by-product of economic development.
In the absence of economic development, there are no environmental issues. But man has to eat and human society needs to develop. The challenge for us is to minimize the negative effects of economic development. This is the goal we are pursuing.
To be more specific, we have to look at four different aspects.
First, minimizing the environmental costs of economic development through rigorous scientific research and certification. We have to ensure that the consequences of economic processes are tolerable in the long term.
Second, the reduction of environmental damage. Are our actions effective? Are the processes we are using the optimal ones?
Third, future generations. Entrepreneurs, firms and individuals must not be allowed to damage the environment - which belongs to all of us - for their own selfish gain. We need a long-term view.
Finally, when we have detected and analyzed an environmental problem, how can we go about solving it in a timely, responsible and positive manner? Innovation is a key requirement in this regard.
By taking into account these four aspects, we will make progress toward balancing the tensions between economic development and the environment.
