China's role in the fight against global warming

According to Asian media, China was one of the first nations to recognize the potential threat posed by greenhouse gases and global warming. The World Tibet Network News reported in 1993 that, before many countries even considered global warming much of a problem, organizations such as the Bureau of Hydrological and Water Resources Survey, and the Xizang Geographic Society were meeting in China to discuss among other issues global warming; a study group was even created known as the IGU Study Group on Regional Hydrological Responses to Climate Change/Global Warming.

China continued to view global warming as a hazard a decade later, at the turn of the century. At this point attention was focused mostly on the effects of global warming at hand. In 2000 a china.org.cn article was written concerning rising water costs due to seasonal drying-up of water supplies in response to what experts say was global warming and the destruction of the ecological environment. The same year, speakers at a forum in Beijing decided that natural gas should be used in lieu of coal, for they believed burning coal produced greenhouse gases that were at least partly responsible for global warming. The article, also by china.org.cn, indicated how this was a problem for developing nations such as China and how China suffered greatly from the burning of coal; it accounted for 80% of the country's energy use.

In 2001, the Hong Kong Edition noted how global warming damaged the environment more and more every year, so much so that agricultural experts advised investing in plant protection and research to prevent "the possibility of a biological disaster." Also, a China Daily article criticized President George Bush for his uncooperative attitude toward the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and how it "may ruin years of arduous work on environmental protection by the international community." The article mentioned how developing countries such as China have done what they could "within their capabilities" to alleviate the effects of greenhouse gases. The blame was clearly placed on the Bush administration and completely off of China.

A 2002 article by china.org.cn explained a national program of China's concentrating on climate observation, research, and prediction to encourage sustainability in the face of an "ever-increasing global warming trend and its consequent impact on society." China has mapped out a national program for intensifying climate observation, research and prediction to help facilitate sustainable economic and social development over the next 10 years.

It seems from these stories that from the beginning that the presence and significance of global warming was never a question to China. Also China appeared to be very involved and active in research and policy.

At present, Chinese media continues to reflect and explain the nation's interest in global warming as it had in the past. One February 7 article by china.org.cn indicates how currently rising temperatures are the result of global warming and how they have already affected both nature and society in the future (like direct economic losses of $25.8 to 38.7 billion annually). It is interesting to refer back to the 2000 article that predicted the effects of rising temperatures on China as well as the rest of the world, specifically in 2030. The article also explained that the Chinese government has backed the Kyoto Protocol by committing itself to improving energy efficiency by cutting its energy consumption by 20 percent per unit of gross domestic product in the period from 2006 to 2010.

Based on Chinese media it seems that the nation certainly believes global warming is the result of human action; a report published in China Daily by the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change said that global warming is "very likely" caused by man and no matter how people try to control pollution, temperatures will continue to rise. A China View story details a climate report that says human-caused global warming is present and visible not just in China but worldwide.

One article by China Daily describes the action China has taken against global warming and greenhouse gases, having reduced its consumption of standard coal for energy by 800 million tons between 1991 and 2005; this resulted in a 1.8-billion-ton decrease in carbon dioxide emissions. China also established a target for local energy consumption. Though it believes strongly in the danger of global warming and had signed the Kyoto Protocol in 1998, China places most responsibility in the hands of more developed countries like the United States. This is evident in a February 8 China Daily article explaining that, according to Chinese officials, China will act when other industrial nations will. The article also included that former U.S. Vice President Al Gore finds this justified.

Worldwide other nations explain this differently. Canada's National Post seems to shine a negative light on China by quoting it as having said, "Richer nations are responsible for greenhouse gases fuelling global warming." It also explains how China feels that those nations must find a solution to global warming and that China is the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world.

On the other hand, The Syndey Morning Herald of Australia seemed to belittle China with its article stating the US must lead China into cutting greenhouse gases. France, in its International Herald Tribune of February 16, further places accountability in the hands of China as one of the world's greatest emitters of greenhouse gases, placing it alongside the richer nation China considers mostly responsible for global warming action. The story also pinpointed how it had failed to meet its 2006 goals for pollution reduction and put some blame on China's reliance on coal for energy production.

No one seems to consider China unaffected by global warming, as the Gulf Times of Qatar agreed on February 27 that it is clearly affected by global warming, as evident by its unusual weather, and how it is indeed one of the larger emitters of greenhouse gases because of its use of coal and other fossil fuels. Even nearby Thailand considers global warming worst in China, in terms of effects on weather represented by temperatures and sea levels. The article also includes that China ratified the Kyoto Protocol but is itself exempt from its limits and that it has failed to meet targets regarding energy consumption in the past.

On a final note, the UK's Scotsman had a February 17 story about the construction of new renewable-energy power stations in China. An interesting statement, however, is that identifying China's state-controlled media and how it plays up positive stories on China and global warming. The story also included how increases in greenhouse gas release rates are mostly in Asian countries and that agreeing to limitations threatens national growth Overall, China is not shy about the issue of global warming and includes numerous articles with facts, statistics, and problems. However, it holds a different view concerning its role in addressing global warming compared to those of the rest of the world.