Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – China, one of the world’s most polluting countries, is hard hit by the consequences of global warming. Meanwhile its commitment to reduce greenhouse emissions is important not only for the environment but also for its global credibility. Pan Yue, deputy director of the State Environmental Protection Administration (Sepa), has rejected criticism that China is not doing enough to control pollution and to limit carbon dioxide emissions (it ranks second in the world after the US but is predicted to beat it within two years).

 

He said the global rise in temperature “is a result of developed countries' industrialisation over the past century instead of the fault of China and other developing countries."

 

In January, Beijing admitted that it had not managed to reduce energy consumption by 4% and polluting emissions by 2%, which were the goals established for 2006. However, according to Pan, reaching such objectives was not only about technical matters but also involved political, economic and social changes. He said: "[China] needs to strengthen macroeconomic controls, to reform current Gross Domestic Product (GDP) accounting and the assessment of local officials' political performance based on GDP statistics, to set up low-carbon economic policies, and to improve public participation.”

 

To attain these aims, Pan said it was important to have support from developed countries not only in terms of technical assistance and economic aid but to search for a new development system together.

There is also need to give more authority and resources to upgrade environmental control agencies like Sepa. The agency often faces a lack of cooperation from local authorities that are more interested in increasing the local GDP even at the expense of the environment, and are not ready to implement demands to close or sanction more polluting factories. So Beijing wants to give Sepa the means and authority of a ministry.

 

Meanwhile, China is feeling the impact of the global warming of temperatures. 2006 was China’s warmest year since 1951. Nineteen of the past 21 winters have been warmer than usual, and the current winter is headed in the same direction. As a result, according to Pan, the country has been afflicted by worse natural disasters, like drought, typhoons, floods, with damage estimated to be 300 billion yuan per year. In Beijing, the air is often full of fog and smog that hampers visibility. Today, for hours, no flight took off or landed at the capital’s airport and even car traffic was problematic. Pan said: "The Chinese people have already realised through first-hand experience that climate change is not a scientific prediction any more, but an existing reality. How to deal with the reality is a test of whether China can become a responsible power and a stakeholder in the future of the world."