The Environment and Climate Change

Many foreign companies sourcing products from China have sought to have their suppliers’ factories certified by independent bodies and NGOs as meeting basic international labor and environmental standards. These programs frequently have been part of a company’s global corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. (For an overview of the CSR issues as they relate to the supply chain in China, see this 2004 statement of findings (.pdf document) by the Kenan Institute China CSR Working Group.)
Among the many certification standards, and perhaps the best known, is SA8000.

The first phase of the South-North Water Diversion Project will be completed in 2007, Xinhua reports. The project is aimed at diverting water originating in the Yangtze River in southern China and sending it north by three different routes to cities facing severe water shortages.

Press accounts indicate that the project is already encountering major financial and environmental obstacles. According to a China Daily article and other reports in the foreign press, Zhang Jiyao, the director of the State Council’s office in charge of the project, said that construction to date has already exceeded estimated budgets.

To alleviate a drought in progress since August 2004, officials implemented a water diversion plan in mid-January 2005 to bring water from reservoirs in southwest China to the Pearl River Delta region until early February, according to a China Daily article. The diversion plan potentially could last longer, the article says. Officials told reporters that the region’s drought is among the worst in 55 years. When the water is diverted, officials also said, no fishing will be permitted. Local governments are responsible for compensating fishermen for their economic losses. Guangdong officials attempted to alleviate the drought by creating artificial rain, encouraging water conservation, and halting hydraulic power stations, before deciding to implement the diversion plan. The previous measures did not succeed, however, and reservoirs in Guangdong continued to dry up, with salt tides threatening drinking water supplies.

On January 18, China’s State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) ordered a halt to 30 construction projects, most of them associated with electric power production, throughout the country. Authorities said the projects’ environmental impact assessment reports had not been approved, as required by the 2003 National Environmental Assessment Law. According to articles in Xinhua and the South China Morning Post (subscription only), three of the largest projects are part of the politically influential Three Gorges Development Corporation’s (TGDC) Three Gorges Project and Jinshajiang Project, components of China’s massive effort to harness the Yangtze River through a series of hydroelectric projects.

Import of recyclable solid waste has resulted in polluted rivers and coastal areas, threatening China’s essential water resources. To address this problem, the National People’s Congress passed in December 2004 an Amendment to the Law on Solid Waste Environmental Pollution Prevention that will place greater controls on solid waste imports. The amendment also seeks to protect the rights of individuals affected by solid waste pollution. The original version of the law may be seen here.

According to a South China Morning Post report (subscription required), the State Development and Reform Commission (SDRC), a central government agency, has reversed a previous suspension of work and approved a controversial dam project along the Nujiang River in Yunnan province.

Several dam projects in Yunnan province have prompted opposition from Chinese environmental groups, which worry about the impact of these projects on one of China's most biodiverse regions. The vocal opposition of such groups appears to have led the Chinese government to suspend the Nujiang project last spring. The SDRC's decision on the Nujiang project apparently approves a somewhat revised construction plan having fewer dams than initially planned.

Further information is available in a New York Times article (subscription required).