How Far Do You Agree That Chinas Environmental Problems Are Primarily Due to the Lack of Coordination Between the Central and Local Policies

How far do you agree that Chinas environmental problems are primarily due to the lack of coordination between the central and local policies? After China’s opening up in 197! its priority has been to develop the economy at all all cost cost and and as su such ch the the envi enviro ronm nmen entt has has been been bear bearin ing g the the brun bruntt of its its develo developme pment" nt" #hile the central central govern government ment has a large large part part to play play in the environmental problems China faces today! even when they try to ameliorate China’s environmental problems! their e$orts are mostly undermined by the lack of coordination between the central and local policies" Hence! this essay seeks to argue argue that that China’ China’s s enviro environme nmenta ntall problem problems s are are primar primarily ily due to the the lack lack of  coordination between the central and local provinces because despite of the great amount of e$ort put in by the %ei&ing government! incompliance of the local local govern governanc ance e rende renders rs the the e$orts e$orts ine$ec ine$ectua tuall and theref therefor ore e perpetu perpetuate ates s China’s environment woes by continuing to &eopardi'e the economy for the sake of economic growth"  (he central government has a large part to play in the environmental woes that China faces today as it is the central government’s policy that has brought about the environment predicament China is in today" )nvironmental crisis is a direct outcom outcome e of marke markett econom economic ic refor reforms" ms" *elentle elentless ss drive drive of China’ China’s s leader leaders s to amass amass powe power! r! cons consol olida idate te terr territ itor ory! y! devel develop op the the econ econom omy y and and su supp ppor ortt a burg burgeon eonin ing g popu popula lati tion on have have led to the the plun plunder derin ing g of fores forests ts and and mine minera rall resources! constructing river diversion and leading to poor water management pro pro&ect &ects s" (her here is a clear lear lac lack of etho ethos s for for cons onserva ervati tion on"" (he (he ma+ ma+im ,development -rst! then environment. was a common rhetoric throughout the 19/s and 199/s" %y 0//0! China had become home to si+ of the most polluted cities in the world" ore than 723 of the waters 4owing through China’s urban areas was unsuitable for drinking or -shing" However! lacking of coordination between the central and local government! the continual &eopardy of the economy for the sake of economic growth perpetuates Chin China’ a’s s econ econom omic ic woes woes by o$se o$sett ttin ing g area areas s of su succ cces ess s in impr improv ovin ing g the the environment" 5evolution of authority to provincial and local o6cial has led to a free free rein ein to conc concen entr trat ate e ener energi gies es on econ econom omic ic grow growth th!! push pushin ing g asid aside e environmental considerations" n many regions! land! water and forest resources are s8uandered without considering necessity of conservation or replenishment of natural resources" rivately run cottage industries that have fuelled much of  China’s economic growth are di6cult to regulate" (hey pose a greater threat to the environment than the :;)s" roliferation of tanneries! chemical and fertili'er factories! makers of brick! tile! pottery and porcelain! small coal -red power plants and pulp and paper factories have all contributed to a dramatic increase in pollution outside China’s ma&or cities" %y 0///! (<)s were estimated to be estimated to be responsible for 2/3 of all pollutants nationally" nationally"  (he central government has a large part to play in the environmental woes that China faces today as the standard set is not high enough to deal with China’s environmental problems and hence naturally! measures will be ine$ective when it waters down to provincial level" =or e+ample! at Copenhagen summit! China has promised to reduce its carbon intensity by >/3 to >23 from the increment rate after 0//2" However! this does not mean that China would reduce its carbon emission in absolute terms and it would not compromise China’s emphasis to achieve higher growth" Although the central government recogni'es the use of  economic penalties and incentives for promoting the use of clean energy such as -nes! -nes! ta+es ta+es and subsid subsidies ies!! specispeci-c c laws laws to deal deal with with di$er di$erent ent enviro environme nmenta ntall

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problems are yet to be enacted and a set of consistent policies is yet to be formulated" (he work involves listing all polluting activities in production and consumption! estimating their costs to society as e+ternalities and specifying a set of most suitable penalties for violation and economic inducements for the spec sp ecif ifyi ying ng a set set of most most su suit itab able le pena penalt ltie ies s for for viola iolati tion on and and econ econom omic ic inducements for the adoption of clean energy alternatives" Howe Howeve ver! r! Chin China’ a’s s envi enviro ronm nmen enta tall prob problem lems s are are prim primar arily ily due due to the the lack lack of  coordination between the central and local policies because it undermines the e$ecti e$ectiven veness ess of many many govern governmen mental tal polici policies es to improve improve the envir environm onment ent"" Chines Chinese e produ producers cers violat violate e enviro environmen nmental tal prote protecti ction on laws to reduc reduce e cost cost of  production" ore importantly! local government o6cials to allow pollution to take place illegally in order to promote a higher rate of economic growth and the central central government governmental al cannot cannot control control them" ocal government government o6cials bene-t bene-t from higher levels of output in their region as they receive credits for economic development development and sometimes sometimes bribes from pollution producers" producers" (hese factors factors will contin continue ue to hinder hinder the enforc enforcemen ementt of enviro environme nmenta ntall laws laws for some some time time to come"  (he central government has a large part to play in the environmental woes that China faces today because lacking of resolve! it is actually tacitly condoning growth at the e+pense of the economy" f the government wishes! it has the power to enact laws that integrate local government’s success in environmental conservation alongside economic growth to their political performances as the operation of an industrial enterprise re8uires its approval as sometimes even its assist assistanc ance e in the provisi provision on of land land or credit credit"" :ince :ince there there is a positi positive ve linear linear correlation between price and energy consumption! the government can also incr increas ease e pric price e of e+is e+isti ting ng ener energy gy to prev preven entt wast wastag age" e" Alte Altern rnat ativ ively ely!! the the government can also reduce the price of clean energy as compared to e+isting energy to protect protect the environment environment since thee control of pollution pollution resulting room room production using e+isting technology is di6cult" Howeve However! r! in the absenc absence e of govern governmen mentt regula regulatio tion! n! the lack lack of coord coordina inatio tion n between the central and local policies greatly e+acerbated the environmental condition without considering the welfare of the people"

n conc conclu lusi sion on!! the cent centra rall gov governm ernmen entt has has a lar large part part to pla play in the enviro environme nmenta ntall proble problems ms China China faces faces today today"" Howeve However! r! even even when when they they try to ameliorate China’s environmental problems! their e$orts are mostly undermined by the lack of coordination between the central and local policies" (herefore! China’s environmental problems are primarily due to the lack of coordination between the central and local provinces because despite of the great amount of  e$ort put in by the %ei&ing government! incompliance of the local governance renders the e$orts ine$ectual and therefore perpetuates China’s environment woes by continuing to &eopardi'e the economy for f or the sake of economic growth"