Report on the Economic and Political implication of pollution in China

Report on the Economic and Political implication of Pollution in China

Introduction

China's environment problems are rising. These problems are of diversified nature, ranging from water pollution to the increasing level of air pollution. Water scarcity and water pollution are having a solid impact on the economy; however, rising level of air pollution making life of millions of people in a grave danger and turning a greater part of country's land into a desert. Over the period of time China has reached on top of the list in the air and water pollution, land degradation and a leading contributor in one of the most grave environmental problems, including, climate change, illegal timber trade and marine pollution. With increasing of these pollution woes, the risks over its economy are also increasing, such as international reputation, social stability and public health (Economy, 2007).

As a matter of fact, China has made significant progress in cleaning up its air pollution, yet the economic influence from ozone and its particles in the air had augmented at an agile pace. With the swift course of time, China has advocated an unprecedented growth, but with an enhanced price labels (Ekstorm, 2012). China's government has ventured its legitimacy on enhanced standards of living while the reality has compelled many of the people to complain about the pollution problems (The Economist, 2013). Hence, the pollution in China has several political and economic implications.

Economic Implications

As a matter of fact, China's economic growth has remained significant over the period of time; however, the pollution issues have outweighed this fast paced growth, in terms of enhanced costs. The study conducted by MIT analyses the costs related to health impacts from the ozone and its particles, which have the potential of inducing respiratory and cardiovascular diseases (Ekstorm, 2012). It was also estimated that the cost, in terms of lost labour and the enhanced requirement of health care, was $ 112 billion in 2005, compared to $ 22 billion in the year 1975. This makes it clear that the ozone and other issues related to it have impacted the economy of China in last 30 years. Besides this, agriculture, industries and municipals are all causing water pollution to the extent that the usability of such water is hard to calculate and is useless for irrigation and consuming. This pollution has caused severe scarcity of water in China, and from the economic point of view it is causing 147 billion RMB a year, or 1 percent of GDP (Shao et. al, 2006). China has become the world's largest carbon dioxide and mercury emitter.

Pollution in China has caused severe economic implications over the growth of its economy. Being a leader exporter in the world, the unparalleled growth has become the integral part of the China's economy; however, the pollution has caused severe setbacks that raised too many eyebrows for the future of its economy. The water and air pollution are causing billions of dollars years ...