{"id":33491,"date":"2015-12-22T13:34:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-22T13:34:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-10-27T14:16:33","modified_gmt":"2020-10-27T14:16:33","slug":"8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"China pays heavy environmental price for economic growth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the last half century China\u2019s economy has grown 80-fold, but a huge environmental price has been paid.\u00a0A recent\u00a0report from WWF has tracked 2,419 populations of 682 species, finding that from 1970 to 2010 populations of land-dwelling vertebrates fell by 50%. The biggest fall, 97%, was seen in amphibious reptiles.<\/p>\n

The WWF\u2019s new report,\u00a0Global Vitality: China 2015<\/a>, provides\u00a0an initial calculation of the environmental price China has paid for 50 years of rapid economic expansion. According to the report the world\u2019s \u2018biocapacity\u2019 is limited and relatively constant \u2013 even under careful management the potential for growth is limited.<\/p>\n

Biocapacity<\/a>\u00a0refers to the capacity of a given biologically productive area to generate a constant supply of renewable resources and to absorb waste or pollution wastes. Growth is judged to be unsustainable if an area, or in this case a country, has an ecological footprint that exceeds its\u00a0biocapacity.<\/p>\n

In the half century since 1960,\u00a0China\u2019s\u00a0biocapacity\u00a0doubled, mainly due to the development of agriculture and a limited degree of environmental protection. But over the same period the economy grew 80-fold.<\/p>\n

Li Lin, WWF China\u2019s Executive Programme Director, said that in the long term economic growth that outstrips biocapacity and environmental capacity is unsustainable: \u201cHow to use limited biocapacity to support a rapidly growing economy is the first problem to be solved if China is to develop an ecological civilization,\u201d Li added, referring to China\u2019s plans for greener growth and to make environmental protection a much more urgent priority at all levels of government.<\/p>\n

A study found that in 2012 only Tibet and Qinghai had an ecological surplus \u2013 biocapacity adequate to meet the needs of local consumption. Beijing would need 21\u00a0times its current biocapacity to reach ecological equilibrium.<\/p>\n

Ecological overload is causing China a range of problems \u2013 drought, water shortages, soil erosion, the loss of biodiversity, and increases in greenhouse gas emissions that if unchecked, could lead to runaway climate change.<\/p>\n

‘Biocapacity imports’<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to the report, China\u2019s own resources can no longer support its industrial and domestic demands \u2013 prompting a surge in imports of items such as meat, dairy and tropical hardwood.<\/p>\n

An analysis of 455 types of traded products found that in 2012 China was a net importer of 1.3% of the world\u2019s global biocapacity. About two thirds of the imports were from 26 countries rich in ecological resources such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Russia, New Zealand and Indonesia.<\/p>\n

The types of products imported depend on the source \u2013 Australia and New Zealand supply meat and dairy products; Canada and Russia supply products sourced from forests; while Brazil supplies products grown on arable land. Meanwhile China\u2019s exports of land-related produce are mainly to the Asia-Pacific region and North America.<\/p>\n

Impact on Latin America<\/strong><\/p>\n

Brazil has a larger ecological surplus than any other nation is an example how fragile biocapacity can be in the context of international trade. But growing domestic demand and the selling off of natural resources for short-term economic benefit is gradually reducing that ecological surplus, making it likely that big importing countries will increasingly have to look elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Even when trading with countries rich in natural resources such as Brazil, China faces risks. For example since the 1990s China\u2019s imports of soya beans<\/a> \u2013 used directly as food and also as fodder in the ever-expanding pork industry \u2013 have risen. In 2010 soya beans made up 54% of China\u2019s imports from Latin\u00a0America, with 34% of that coming from Brazil.\u00a0Imports of meat and paper from Brazil are also on the rise. But changes in the climate or rainfall patterns, or local social or economic changes, could reduce Brazil\u2019s biocapacity and cause instability in the market for these commodities \u2013 particularly for soya beans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

China\u2019s economic growth is outstripping the country\u2019s ability to replenish its environmental resources, writes Liu Qin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1534,"featured_media":58401,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[758,760],"tags":[511,523,537,544],"hashtags":[],"country":[],"class_list":["post-33491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-pollution","tag-biodiversity","tag-conservation","tag-ecosystems","tag-finance"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nChina pays heavy environmental price for economic growth | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"China\u2019s economic growth is outstripping the country\u2019s ability to replenish its environmental resources, writes Liu Qin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"China pays heavy environmental price for economic growth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"China\u2019s economic growth is outstripping the country\u2019s ability to replenish its environmental resources, writes Liu Qin\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dialogue Earth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-12-22T13:34:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-10-27T14:16:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/2421350178_df37083083_b-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Qin Liu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Qin Liu\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/53b8c3f8f39f86a6be41d6eb32521121\"},\"headline\":\"China pays heavy environmental price for economic growth\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-12-22T13:34:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-27T14:16:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/\"},\"wordCount\":618,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/2421350178_df37083083_b-2.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Biodiversity\",\"Conservation\",\"Ecosystems\",\"Finance\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Business\",\"Pollution\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/\",\"name\":\"China pays heavy environmental price for economic growth | Dialogue Earth\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/2421350178_df37083083_b-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-12-22T13:34:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-27T14:16:33+00:00\",\"description\":\"China\u2019s economic growth is outstripping the country\u2019s ability to replenish its environmental resources, writes Liu Qin\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/2421350178_df37083083_b-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/2421350178_df37083083_b-2.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":768},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"China pays heavy environmental price for economic growth\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Dialogue Earth\",\"description\":\"Global climate and environment news\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"width\":256,\"height\":256,\"caption\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_\",\"\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/\"],\"publishingPrinciples\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/53b8c3f8f39f86a6be41d6eb32521121\",\"name\":\"Qin Liu\",\"description\":\"Liu Qin is China Dialogue's Beijing Admin Officer, and a former editor of the website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/liuqin\/\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/liuqin\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"China pays heavy environmental price for economic growth | Dialogue Earth","description":"China\u2019s economic growth is outstripping the country\u2019s ability to replenish its environmental resources, writes Liu Qin","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"China pays heavy environmental price for economic growth","og_description":"China\u2019s economic growth is outstripping the country\u2019s ability to replenish its environmental resources, writes Liu Qin","og_url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/","og_site_name":"Dialogue Earth","article_published_time":"2015-12-22T13:34:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-10-27T14:16:33+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":768,"url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/2421350178_df37083083_b-2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Qin Liu","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/"},"author":{"name":"Qin Liu","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/53b8c3f8f39f86a6be41d6eb32521121"},"headline":"China pays heavy environmental price for economic growth","datePublished":"2015-12-22T13:34:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-10-27T14:16:33+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/"},"wordCount":618,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/2421350178_df37083083_b-2.jpg","keywords":["Biodiversity","Conservation","Ecosystems","Finance"],"articleSection":["Business","Pollution"],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/","name":"China pays heavy environmental price for economic growth | Dialogue Earth","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/2421350178_df37083083_b-2.jpg","datePublished":"2015-12-22T13:34:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-10-27T14:16:33+00:00","description":"China\u2019s economic growth is outstripping the country\u2019s ability to replenish its environmental resources, writes Liu Qin","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/2421350178_df37083083_b-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/2421350178_df37083083_b-2.jpg","width":1024,"height":768},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/8491-china-pays-heavy-environmental-price-for-economic-growth\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"China pays heavy environmental price for economic growth"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","name":"Dialogue Earth","description":"Global climate and environment news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization","name":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_","","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/"],"publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/53b8c3f8f39f86a6be41d6eb32521121","name":"Qin Liu","description":"Liu Qin is China Dialogue's Beijing Admin Officer, and a former editor of the website","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/liuqin\/","sameAs":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/liuqin\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1534"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33491"},{"taxonomy":"hashtags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtags?post=33491"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=33491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}