Environmental Mid-term Plan Report: China's Environmental Situation Still Very Serious

  • Environmental Mid-term Plan Report: China's Environmental Situation Still Very Serious

     

    Origin: Chinese Government Website: January 28, 2011 08:28


    On the 28th of January, the Chinese Premier of the State Council, Wen Jiabao, held a meeting with the Domestic Affairs Council to discuss China’s “11th Fifth Year Plan and Midterm Evaluation Report”. The legislation includes a nationwide investigation of China’s environmental conditions as well as guidelines for improving the environment and reducing pollution.


    In 2008, the council conducted the first nationwide investigation of China’s environmental conditions. According to the report, the national chemical oxygen demand (COD) and sulphur dioxide emissions were reduced by 6.61% and 8.95% respectively between 2005 and 2008 and continue to decrease. The “11th Fifth Year Plan” aims to continue reducing carbon emissions by imposing stricter regulations on industrial development.

     

     


    The report also examined the cause of the country’s major pollution problems concerning water and food resources. The “11th Fifth Year Plan” focuses on the ecological systems of important river channels including Huaihe River, Haihe River, Liaohe River, Chaohu River, Dianchi River, Songhuajiang River, the Three Gorges Reservoir, and the Huanghe River. Over 2,700 water treatment projects have been planned, 1,270 (46.8%) of which have already been completed and 785 (28.9%) of which are still under construction. As a result, over 1.5 hundred million people living in China’s suburban and rural areas will have access to clean drinking water.

                                       Photo by Lu Guang

     

     

    Photo by Lu Guang

    		 Although China’s efforts to improve the environment have achieved positive results, the situation still remains very serious. In October 2009, Chinese Photographer, Lu Guang, documented ecological disasters in China with a focus on environmental pollution and the problem of schistosomiasis (bilharzia), a disease caused by contaminated water. Lu Guang received the 30th W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography for his “Pollution in China” photography project. His work demonstrates that although economic development has dramatically improved the living standards of the Chinese people over the past several decades, rapid industrial development still has serious consequences on the environment and public health.