In his book, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, Jared Diamond discusses among other things the significance that China has concerning our world’s future. Most of the time when we talk about China, the focus is on the country’s unbelievable economic growth and rise to world power. The story of economic growth is intricately interwoven in Diamonds discussion of China’s environmental problems.
According to Diamond, “China’s environmental problems can be summarized under six main headings: air, water, soil, habitat destruction, biodiversity losses, and megaprojects.” (363) Diamond discusses each of the environmental problems in more detail. I assume that most readers are familiar with each of these headings except perhaps “megaprojects.” Diamond writes that “under way in China are the world’s largest development projects, all expected to cause severe environmental problems.” Among those projects are the following: The Three Gorges Dam of the Yangtze River; The South-to-North Water Diversion Project (scheduled to complete around 2050).
Diamond unpacks the cost of the destruction of the environment through three lenses: economic cost, health and natural disaster. Environmental destruction comes at a high economic cost. The most costly example that Diamond lists is when he talks about the cost of the floods that are in part caused by deforestation. He writes, “the one-time cost of the 1996 floods (27 billion, but still cheaper than the 1998 floods), the annual direct losses due to desertification ($42 billion), and the annual losses due to water and air pollution ($54 billion). The combination of the latter two items alone costs China the equivalent of 14% of its gross domestic product each year.” (368). Thus even if economic growth is a countries priorities it pays to only implement environment friendly growth.
Besides economic costs there are also health consequences. Diamond writes, “about 300,000 deaths per year, and $54 billion of health costs (8% of the gross national product), are attributed to air pollution.” (368) A Final cost of environmental destruction comes in the cost of natural disaster. Diamond points to the increasing dust storms and floods.
Diamond discusses China’s impact on the rest of the world. Simply by its sheer size in population and territory, China’s environmental policies and practices have a large effect on other countries. Moreover, through Globalization environmental problems play out in new ways. For example China’s logging ban has led to China exporting deforestation to other countries such as Malaysia (since the timber is now purchased from other countries).
The striving for a higher standard for living will also have a future environmental impact. Currently the per capita use of metals in China (steel, aluminum, copper, and lead) is only 9% that of consumption rates in leading industrial countries. Diamond explains alongside the example of metal usage the impact a rise in higher living standard could have on the environment. He writes, “If China’s per-capita consumption rates do rise to First World levels, and even if nothing else about the world changed – e.g., even if population and production/consumption rates everywhere else remained unchanged – then that production/consumption rate increase alone would translate (as multiplied by China’s population) into an increase in total world production or consumption of 94% in that same case of industrial metals. In other world, China’s achievement of First World standards will approximately double the entire world’s human resource use and environmental impact.” (373)
China and all of our future is interconnected. How we treat the environment today effects how life will be tomorrow. Diamond describes China as a “lurching” giant. He uses “lurching” in the neutral sense by which he simply means swaying suddenly from side to side. China’s unity and the government’s decision making ability allow it to implement changes faster than most other countries. According to Diamond, “As for the outcome of China’s current environmental problems, all one can say for sure is that things will get worse before they get better, because of time lags and momentum of damage already under way.” (374)
Thus the future is open. Diamond writes, “How will it all end up? Like the rest of the world, China is lurching between accelerating environmental damage and accelerating environmental protection. China’s large population and large growing economy, and its current and historic centralization, mean that china’s lurches involve more momentum than those of any other country.” (377)
In my home church, I have heard of Christian’s in China who have made it their goal to turn major companies’ environmental practices around and more green. I wonder, will more Christians rise up to this challenge to lead in transforming environmental policies in corporations and governments throughout the world? After all environmental issues are connected with being good stewards of creation and loving our neighbor (usually it is the poor who suffer the most from the destruction of the environment.)
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