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China in 'environmental performance
2008-01-03 12:24:52
/ 个人分类：social issues
China in 'environmental performance
index'
Thu, 2006-02-09 17:38
China in the World | Environment
China ranks 94th out of 133 countries listed in an
Environmental Performance Index put together by
research centres at Yale and Columbia universities, in
collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the
European Commission Joint Research Centre, and
published at the end of January.
Let's
just assume the above listed groups are fully informed and not
biased. This is a question someone else will have to answer; I'm not
qualified.
New Zealand tops the index, with EU countries, Canada
and Australia clustered near the top of the league and
Africa heavily represented at the bottom. However,
several Latin American countries made it into the top
twenty, above the USA, which ranked 28.
28th is a very poor showing for such a 'technically advanced' country, especially one that preaches these qualities to others.
Poor air quality and sustainable energy were the main
factors in China's relatively low ranking, in the
fourth quintile. China ranks well behind Brazil (34)
and Indonesia (79), but performs better than India
(118) and Nigeria (123).
I
just listened to a radio show 2 weeks ago that mentioned that 85% of
Brazil's automobiles made before 1995 are capable of running on either
gasoline or ethanol (made from sugar cane) and all of the new cars can
run off both as well. Sure it helps that sugar cane is one of the most
efficient sources for making ethanol, but still, other countries are
doing virtually nothing in this area and oil continues to be something
the world fights over.
The composite index draws on 16 indicators designed to
illuminate six 'policy categories'梕nvironmental
health, biodiversity, sustainable energy, water
quality, air quality, and natural resources. The
indicators range from under-5 mortality to CO2
emissions comparative to GDP, and are assessed against
policy targets that, according to the 367 page report,
are 'drawn from international agreements, standards
set by international organisations, or prevailing
concensus among environmental scientists' and that
provide 'benchmarks for long-term sustainability.'
Hmm,
I wonder what this really means? Also, the US most EU countries
already experienced their Industrial (polluting) Revolutions over a 100
years ago. What progress has been made over this time period and is it
fair to compare newly industrialized countries to the same standards
(if that is what they are doing - hard to know that about this study,
but I assume that is so.)
However, the report acknowledges data gaps in areas
such as SO2 emissions, exposure to toxic chemicals and
soil erosion and quality. Sixty countries could not be
included because of inadequate data. The 367 page
report may be downloaded free of charge from:
http://www.yale.edu/epi/
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Monica1981
发布于2008-01-20 00:13:58