Pollution from factories in China

We arrived in Hong Kong on Sunday, leaving Beijing’s blue skies behind to be welcomed by the worst air pollution Hong Kong had seen in history.  The week was busy, meeting with Hong Kong’s leading environmental and social non-profits to get a sense of the work that’s happening in Southern China, and explore opportunities for collaboration. 

Just across from Hong Kong is the Pearl River Delta (PRD), a life-source for hundreds of millions of people in southern China. Over the past several decades, rapid development and population strains have left China’s major water ways, including the Yellow River, Huai River and Yangtze River in a crisis state. A similar fate is slated for the PRD, with Guangdong being the hub of China’s manufacturing boom.

Despite the central government’s repeated commitment to protecting the environment, a major struggle remains in getting Beijing’s environmental policies implemented across the country. Even the new elevated status of SEPA to a Ministry doesn’t guarantee that local EPBs will be accountable to the national environmental watch-dog. 

Furthermore, the driving force behind most of China’s development lies outside the country, in the West’s demand for cheap consumer goods. Many multinationals are taking advantage of China’s plentiful labor and lax environmental laws or aren’t paying attention to what’s happening in their factories or supply chains. 

While the situation in the PRD is dire, it is not completely hopeless. There is a unique opportunity to reverse the trends of rampant industrialization, and protect the PRD from worsening pollution. As corporate responsibility shifts from being a trend to standard operating procedure, multinationals can lead by example in China by upholding their environmental and social commitments.

I recently spent a week in Beijing – my first time to one of the world’s largest, and arguably becoming one of the most important cities. It’s been an incredible experience and we’ve been blessed with beautiful blue skies. 

I was there with Daniela, our China program director, connecting with partners, reporters, bloggers, companies, university students and colleagues. I’ve met some of the leaders of China’s environment movement – a very dynamic and passionate group of individuals taking on some of the world’s most daunting problems. It’s a fascinating time to be here as it feels like these Chinese grassroots environmental groups are really gaining momentum and simultaneously China is preparing for this summer’s Green Olympics.   Our partner’s strategies, all locally focused, are becoming increasingly more sophisticated while the national government is also taking on these monumental challenges. 

Preparing for the Olympics, Beijing is issuing and initiating a stream of environmental policies. From building green venues to limiting the number of cars in the city to reduce smog, Beijing is getting ready to present blue skies to the international community when the world turns its attention to the Olympic games. It’s pretty amazing I think that China chose to set such high environmental goals for the Olympics. 

Talking with our partners is a huge source of inspiration – it definitely takes a committed individual to do environmental work any where, but especially in China. The problems here are daunting and the concept of environmental work as a profession is quite new, and often lonely, work. 

But there was a real shadow that exists over my visit here and our partner’s incredible work. China’s environmental problems reach far beyond Beijing and far beyond the Olympic spotlight. The Han River recently turned red with pollution, leaving over 200,000 people access to clean water.  Incidents like this really reinforce the need for a strong environmental movement throughout the country, not just in Beijing and not just related to the Olympics, to act as a community resource to respond and try to prevent these kinds of tragic events. But these groups can’t do it alone, which is why I think Pacific Environment’s model of supporting these groups is such great work and why I’m so excited to be here!