China's Double-Edged Sword: Improvement of Water Supplies without Accounting for Greening Costs

This summer China has both promulgated new restrictions and policies protecting its water bodies and rejected using green Gross Domestic Product (GDP) calculations, a way to better quantify the economic impacts of national environmental degradation. After three major lakes were affected by algae blooms in the last 2 months - Chao Lake, Tai Lake and Dian Lake – affecting the citizens near or reliant on the lakes for drinking water, the State Environmental Protection Administration chief Zhou Shengxian stated this month that strict measures must be introduced assuage public concerns about water safety. Ironically enough, the Chinese government has postponed work on calculating its green GDP, which could aid the country identify its worst environmental problems. A 2004 report found that environmental degradation in 2004 cost 511.8 billion yuan (US$67.7 billion) or 3.05 percent of GDP.

– View the Planet Ark article
– View the Asia News article
– View the South China Post article