Economics, the environment, and health

Abstract

Is a trade-off between economic development and environmental pollution inevitable for developing countries such as China? Last month, 20 tonnes of cadmium were discharged into a river in southern China, potentially threatening the water supply of millions of people. The source was local industrial waste, and eight executives from two suspected companies have been detained by the police. The local government was also blamed for not disclosing the contamination for at least 2 weeks, and several local government officials were dismissed.Environmental risk factors, especially air and water pollution, are major causes of morbidity and mortality in China. Environmental risks lead to 2·4 million premature deaths every year in China, according to WHO. In terms of air quality, the 2012 Environmental Performance Index from the environmental research centres at Yale and Columbia Universities in the USA, rank China, which has the highest carbon dioxide emissions in the world, 128th out of 132 countries.However, China has set an ambitious goal to reduce its major pollutant emissions by more than 30–40% by 2015 in its latest 5-year plan for environmental protection. Improvements in environmental performance indicators, expansion of air quality monitoring, implementation of stricter rules on industrial pollution, and an investment of 3·4 trillion yuan (US$539 billion) have been proposed to curb emissions. Notably, it is stated that local governments should shoulder most of the responsibilities for finance and implementation and that their environmental protection performances would be taken into account in assessments of their overall work. Economic growth is the top priority for local authorities, thus “factories and enterprises owned by the local government might be the largest polluters in some places” in China, as Junfeng Zhang and colleagues pointed out in The Lancet 2010 China special issue.In addition to better-enforced regulations, China needs more innovations in technology and energy for tackling environmental challenges. China can and should assume a leading role for other middle-income countries to prove that economic development need not come at the expense of damage to the environment and human health.For Junfeng Zhang and colleagues's publication see Review Lancet 2010; 375: 1110–19 Is a trade-off between economic development and environmental pollution inevitable for developing countries such as China? Last month, 20 tonnes of cadmium were discharged into a river in southern China, potentially threatening the water supply of millions of people. The source was local industrial waste, and eight executives from two suspected companies have been detained by the police. The local government was also blamed for not disclosing the contamination for at least 2 weeks, and several local government officials were dismissed. Environmental risk factors, especially air and water pollution, are major causes of morbidity and mortality in China. Environmental risks lead to 2·4 million premature deaths every year in China, according to WHO. In terms of air quality, the 2012 Environmental Performance Index from the environmental research centres at Yale and Columbia Universities in the USA, rank China, which has the highest carbon dioxide emissions in the world, 128th out of 132 countries. However, China has set an ambitious goal to reduce its major pollutant emissions by more than 30–40% by 2015 in its latest 5-year plan for environmental protection. Improvements in environmental performance indicators, expansion of air quality monitoring, implementation of stricter rules on industrial pollution, and an investment of 3·4 trillion yuan (US$539 billion) have been proposed to curb emissions. Notably, it is stated that local governments should shoulder most of the responsibilities for finance and implementation and that their environmental protection performances would be taken into account in assessments of their overall work. Economic growth is the top priority for local authorities, thus “factories and enterprises owned by the local government might be the largest polluters in some places” in China, as Junfeng Zhang and colleagues pointed out in The Lancet 2010 China special issue. In addition to better-enforced regulations, China needs more innovations in technology and energy for tackling environmental challenges. China can and should assume a leading role for other middle-income countries to prove that economic development need not come at the expense of damage to the environment and human health. For Junfeng Zhang and colleagues's publication see Review Lancet 2010; 375: 1110–19 For Junfeng Zhang and colleagues's publication see Review Lancet 2010; 375: 1110–19 For Junfeng Zhang and colleagues's publication see Review Lancet 2010; 375: 1110–19