Investing in China’s future
A STAGGERING investment of US$350 billion over 17 years has achieved spectacular results for China and arrested severe environmental problems, according to a major international study led by Deakin University researchers.
Faced with a national landsystem sustainability emergency, from overuse and mismanagement, including poor farming practices and deforestation, China took drastic action to address alarming levels of environmental degradation, hunger and rural poverty.
To measure the investment outcomes, a team of 19 scientists from 16 Australian, Chinese and US institutions reviewed China’s 16 major sustainability programs.
Led by Brett Bryan, professor of global change, environment and society from Deakin’s School of Life and Environmental Sciences, the findings were recently published in the prestigious science journal Nature.
“A good news story about China’s environment is not something you hear every day,” Prof Bryan said.
“While it has not been perfect, China’s environmental turnaround shows decisive action on the environment can be effective if it is evidencebased, co-ordinated, and, most importantly, backed up by significant financial support.”
Prof Bryan said the review showed how China’s experience could help other nations progress towards the United Nations’ sustainable development goals.
“By late last century, natural forest cover was well below 10 per cent in China,” he said. “Around five billion tonnes of soil was eroding annually, causing major water quality and sedimentation problems, and the Yellow River lay claim to the title of world’s muddiest river.
“Agricultural soils were exhausted and productivity was down, grasslands were overgrazed and desertification affected more than onequarter of China.”
From 1998, China responded to this crisis by escalating its investment in rural sustainability.
Through to 2015, more than $US350 billion was invested via the 16 sustainability programs, addressing more than 620 million hectares (65 per cent of China’s land area), and mobilising a 500 millionstrong labour force.
“At around 0.34 per cent of GDP, China’s investment in sustainability was unprecedented for a single nation,” Prof Bryan said.
“In comparison, the next biggest single sustainability program after China’s — the US Conservation Reserve Program — invested around $46 billion over the past 30 years, less than 0.01 per cent of US GDP.
“Australia spent about $30 billion on similar programs over the same period.”
China’s program has reduced deforestation, with forest cover now exceeding 22 per cent, while grasslands have expanded and regenerated.
Desertification trends have reversed in many areas, soil erosion has waned substantially, water quality has improved, agricultural productivity has increased, hunger has disappeared and households are generally better off.
But there have been some unintended consequences, with vast areas of afforestation affecting water resources and a social impact from moving people out of the worstaffected areas.
“China is by no means out of the woods in regards to environmental sustainability,” Prof Bryan said.
“They still have major issues with air, water, and soil pollution, for example, and, as it continues to develop, it needs to ensure that it does not simply shift its impact offshore.
“But they have made great steps forward and the opportunity is open for them to become a global leader in sustainability.
“There are lessons to be learnt from China’s experience for every country.
“Ultimately, to make a difference, we need to spend a lot more on the environment.”