Environmental policymaking: the case of China
Abstract
The environment tested by globalization
One of the most negative images associated with the People’s Republic of China certainly revolves around environmental issues. There are good reasons for this, if one considers the intensity of Pollution à Canton. Creative Commons CC0.Chinese growth and the magnitude of the damage it is inflicting on the environment. Indeed, the open policy launched in 1978 unleashed an unprecedented industrialization and urbanization process. In four decades China has experienced the same environmental impacts that took two centuries to unfold in Europe, North America, and Japan. As China has legitimately prided itself for its growth, which has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of extreme poverty, access to development has translated into intensive use of natural resources (land, water, raw materials) and high energy consumption. Chinese modernization has strongly tested the environment.