Opinion | China, a leader in ecological revival

By Augustus K. Yeung

Introduction

In politics, China being a world leader means it's automatically in a hot seat: The US and its allies are afraid of the fact or the possibility that a super-power such as America is seen as being superseded by China, a rising power, once a backward agricultural country in the East.

The fact that China is a socialist country makes it even worse as America and its allies tend to see modern China as an ideological derivative of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republic, an opponent of the West. For this ideological difference China had been unfairly kept out of the UN for decades until former US President Richard M. Nixon made his historic visit to China, and soon after established full diplomatic relations between the two great nations since 1970S.

This week (Wednesday, October 13), President Xi Jinping made a strategic move and delivered a UN high-profiled eye-opening speech, as China played host to the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, or COP 15 in the southwestern city of Kunming, in the Province of Yunnan which has remarkably been making strides in going green.

The Kind of Environmental Change China is Showcasing

Mr. Lin Shiyong, a 51-year-old man who has been fishing in Kunming's Dian Lake, the biggest freshwater body in southwestern China, for a decade has seen the changes. The lake used to be one of the most polluted in the country. "The water in Dianchi was green and it was stinking 10 years ago, but now it's much better," Lin said. "There are different kinds of birds on the trees in the morning. The population of aquatic animals in the river has also increased."

It is this kind of ecological and environmental change that China is proud of showcasing as it hosts COP15.

"The conference's theme is 'building a shared future for all life on Earth' and the gathering is expected to lay the foundations for a new global framework under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to reverse biodiversity loss by 2023," reports the Post. ("China seen as leader in ecological revival." South China Morning Post, October 11, 2021.)

Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, executive secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, said the benefits of ecological restoration projects were apparent in the city of Kunming, "[Kunming is a] well-covered, shaded city with trees and flowers. You can walk any time of the day. The sun will not burn you directly because of the shade of the trees. We can see the fruits of freely, local ecological restoration projects in China," she said.

It is a long way from the 1990s, when the water quality of Dian Lake was in the lowest level of China's five-tier water safety standard, meaning it is unfit for agriculture or industrial use. In the next two decades, local authorities went on an environmental offensive, spending more than 50 billion yuan to improve water quality.

The rehabilitation of the lake is just one of the great conservation efforts throughout the country.

The Yangtze River Problems Have Been Fixed

For centuries, the Yangtze River had been known for its floods: In 1998, the Yangtze River region again suffered one of the worst floods in history, a disaster the central government blamed on environmental degradation caused by excessive logging. For this never-ending problem, China introduced a natural forest protection programme, banning logging in more than 100 million hectares of forest.

In 2000, it launched the Grain for Green Programme, the largest reforestation programme in the world, to limit grazing and restore grasslands. Last year, President Xi Jinping even committed the country to adding six billion cubic metres of forest.

Today, 18 per cent of China's land area is covered by nature reserves, above the 17 per cent targets set at the last UN Biodiversity Conference held in Aichi, Japan, in 2010, according to a report on China's biodiversity conservation efforts released recently.

The Country's Population of Wild Animals is Growing

Wild-animal life is thriving as well: Giant pandas in the wild have risen from 1,114 to 1,864 over the past four decades; there are now more than 500 crested ibis where once there were only seven; and the Asian elephant population in the wild has grown from 180 in the 1980s to about 300 at present, according to the white paper.

Now under a new concept of "ecological red lines", China aims to protect at least 25 per cent of its land area.

Mrema said the theme of COP15 was "ecological civilization", the need to align "the relationship between economic development and environmental conservation".

"China will play that leadership role to demonstrate globally…the actions it has taken," she said.

The Core of the Idea is the Unity of Humans and Nature

Traditionally, Chinese believe in the unity of humans and nature. The concept of conservation has been well-received and conceived by the Chinese in their culture and put into practice in their brush paintings for centuries.

"The objectives of the convention of biodiversity are to safeguard species, genes in their ecosystems, provide ecosystem services to people and to maintain a healthy planet," said agreeably Harvey Locke, a conservationist, and the chairman of an International Union for Conservation of Nature task force.

"I really hope China explains the eco-civilization vision for its domestic policy to other people, because the core of the idea is [that] we need to move to be thinking about living within the laws of nature instead of pretending that we are above the laws of nature," he emphasized.

The conservationist said he could still remember the serious doubts 30 years ago about whether panda could survive in the wild in China. "It was a very big question. Now, they are living in the wild," he said enthusiastically.

Conclusion

On the last day of the conference, President Xi took the lead and pledged 1.5 billion yuan for fund that will help developing nations protect biodiversity. A move of generosity that was promptly echoed by Japan and Britain followed suit.

The COP15 conference was being held in Kunming as Beijing deliberately seeks to claim the moral high ground on global environmental governance, rather than being perceived as a fierce competitor of the United States in arm forces, and thereby drawing unending envy and fear from the US and its allies. In a world dominated by the Western powers, a rising China had better "hide its ambitions and abrasiveness so as to avoid being picked on," advises one Chinese proverb.

The author is a freelance writer; formerly Adjunct Lecturer, taught MBA Philosophy of Management, and International Strategy, and online columnist of 3-D Corner (HKU SPACE), University of Hong Kong.

 

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