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中国与世界，环境危机大家谈 WHERE CHINA AND THE WORLD DISCUSS THE ENVIRONMENT

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中文

December 18, 2009

A Chinese environmental update

Glaciers in southern China are receding rapidly as mountains heat up faster than lowlands, say scientists quoted by the Los Angeles Times. They find the condition of Yulong Snow Mountain – on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau and home to the southernmost glaciers on the Eurasian continent -- particularly troubling.

China’s aggressive development has swallowed up tens of thousands of historic sites in the last three decades, The Guardian reported, citing experts from the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.

Barely 18 months after opening the current record-holding span, China has started to build the world’s longest sea bridge. The structure will link Hong Kong, Macao and the Chinese mainland, said The Guardian.

As China addresses widespread pollution, the country is to invest more than three trillion yuan (US$440 billion) in environmental protection over five years from 2011, Agence France-Presse quoted state media as saying.

An urgent drive to develop green technologies is under way in China, according to NPR. One group of western companies suggests the nation’s market for renewable energy eventually could be worth as much as US$500 billion to US$1 trillion a year.

While the Chinese government is embracing energy efficiency and investing in new green technology, the country continues to burn coal at record rates, according to US Department of Energy figures, United Press International reported.

“Sunny Village”, the country’s first pilot project centred on comprehensive utilisation of solar energy, has been launched in Xingtai City, Hebei province, said People’s Daily.

Debate over battery-powered bikes reveals division in China between love and hate for electric bikes, Reuters reported. Consumers and businesses increasingly feel they should have a say in government rules about what they can buy and make.

As the world’s top producer of energy-efficient light bulbs and a potentially massive market for them, China is seen as pivotal to greater worldwide acceptance of environmentally friendly lighting, Agence France-Presse said.

Producing “natural” cotton clothing is a huge and filthy global business that, Chinese-commissioned research shows, will be extremely difficult to clean up, according to miller-mccune.com.

North Korean organisations in charge of raising foreign currency are bringing in and burying industrial waste from China for money, according to South Korea’s Dong-a Ilbo.

Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium has been transformed into a snowy winter wonderland for tourists, stirring anger among environmentalists over the water use at the Olympic venue, Agence France-Presse said, quoting state media.

Prepared in cooperation with PACE

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