The study on the ecological footprint, conducted with the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), was done to “evaluate the ecological deficits of different provinces in China as well as the impacts of specific businesses and households activities,” as written in the report.
According to the findings, China – which has undergone a steady economic growth since the 1970s – currently needs almost twice the amount of its natural resources to sustain its population. This deficit is largely due to emissions of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels. Industrialization, large scale urban development and intensive agriculture have increased the country's burden on the environment.
The lack of internal resources pushes China to import biological capacity from other countries. This dependence has been increasing, as has the need for the country to address this issue.
Zhu Guangyao, CCICED Secretary General, said in an official statement: “Due to rapid social and economic development [in China], environmental issues are increasingly becoming a bottleneck for future economic growth.
“The next 20 years will be critical for China to realise sustainable development. With this in mind, it is the goal of the Chinese government to accelerate the formation of a resource efficient and environmentally friendly society.”
To achieve these goals, says the report, China would need to enhance its infrastructure on the one hand, and change regulations on the other – both measures would help to drastically diminish the impact of its growth on the environment.
“China is already consuming more than twice as much as can be provided by its own ecosystems,” wrote James Leape, WWF International Director General.
“People in China today have an ecological footprint of 1.6 'global hectares' – that is, on average, each person needs 1.6 hectares of biologically productive land to meet the demands of their lifestyle. This is still lower than the world average of 2.2 global hectares, but it nonetheless presents important challenges.
“Raising awareness of China's footprint is a crucial step in China's efforts to improve the wellbeing of its people without jeopardising their future.”
As a matter of fact, many China-based industries that add up to the impact of the country's carbon emissions and ecological footprint are foreign companies that, after closing factories in their own countries, re-directed the production to south-east Asia. Here the workforce is less costly and the environmental regulations are vague.
Calculating the ecological footprint is meant to establish the level of land and water that are needed by a population. It is also meaningful to assess the impact that a population or a country has on a global scale, in terms of use of internal and external natural resources; those that are available within the country, and those that have to be imported from elsewhere.
As recently as 2003, the world's population consumed 25% more biological capacity than the planet could provide. The WWF warns that, if measures are not taken to tackle this trend, a spiral of degradation may wear off the world's resources.
“Today China’s global influence is greater than at any time in recent history,” said Mr Leape. “By reducing pressure on natural resources through better management and increased efficiency, the country can play an important role in sustaining the global environment while gaining competitiveness.”
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