| DATE: | Friday-Saturday, December 7-8, 2007 |
|---|---|
| PLACE: | Lipman Room, Barrows Hall, UC Berkeley |
| FORMAT: | Conference |
| SPONSORS: | Center for Chinese Studies Berkeley China Initiative Institute of East Asian Studies This conference is supported by a grant from the Luce Foundation |
Click one of the links below to view a video of the keynote speeches.
Tom Gold (Executive Director BCI, Associate Dean International and Area Studies) opened the conference by welcoming the audience. Gold provided details of the history and mission of the BCI — The Berkeley China Initiative — as well as the function of the conference for the Initiative. Through programs such as this one, BCI strives to bring together colleagues from across the campus who might normally not even know of each other, and also involve people from the community, to explore issues related to China in fresh and exciting ways, as well as to attract financial support for this effort. The conference is one of a series of 3 conferences on the theme of "the production of knowledge about China" funded by the Luce Foundation. Gold expressed the BCI's very sincere thanks to the Luce Foundation for this generous assistance as well as its affirmation of its vision for the study of China. Gold emphasized that a combination of talented scholars on the Berkeley campus and a strong interest in the topic led the organizers of the conference to settle on an examination of China's environmental challenges. The organizers put together panels of people who might not ordinarily meet each other in the normal course of events, to stress the fact the China's environment is embedded in a social, cultural and historical context that needs to be understood along with the science and engineering aspects.
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost George Breslauer followed Tom Gold to offer welcoming remarks. The Executive Vice Chancellor spoke on the growing salience of global environmental impact. He emphasized that the U.S. and India play a major part in this, as well, and reiterated the responsibility we must all take for the environment, whether it be policies or individual action. Breslauer noted that Berkeley can play a leadership role. With its vast expertise, we are a natural host, we are leader in environmental research, and we need to find ways to galvanize action.
Barbara Finamore examined the difficulties involved in information gathering in China. The issue of whether and how information is collected is still a major challenge. For example, China is a primary importer of mercury but little knowledge exists as to where it was being used. Finamore has helped to create an inventory, but a lot of mercury is being moved illegally. Four pilot projects — talk to SEPA EPBs about output of pollutants from power plants — had no information on small plants. The estimated pollutants of large plants are based on how much coal they used. Finamore wants more formal mechanisms for sharing information on important issues. She set up China U.S. Energy Efficiency Alliance and believes we need to share contacts and mobilize resources.
Moderator: Orville Schell
Orville Schell opened the panel by stating that NGOs fill the vacuum often left by media as they improve transparency in environmental movements in U.S. and China. Information needs to reach the public before you can have effective policy development and litigation. Isabel Hilton's presentation focused on limitations on the public right to know. She stated that, in China, there is no voluntary dissemination of information. There is growing government recognition of the right to know and key bits of legislation have strengthened cause, but the problem has been enforcement. Hilton asks: How can it be improved? The answer: Through public interest environmental litigation! But none of this works without a commitment to freedom of the press. Wenran Jiang asked: What do we know about China's environment? We know that rapid deterioration, intense pollution, and high costs of development with a model of sustainability mean that China's environmental profile is in trouble. China has demonstrated its resolve to pursue a new model (at the central level), yet, he contends, we must understand that China's problems are also the world's problems. This should be implemented on the local level and market forces should be allowed to direct development. In terms of long-term challenges and changes: Do we need the right to know? Eventually, yes. We need to improve the ability to gather information. China does not have the capacity to make change democratically right now. In this light, one can say there is a need for a totalitarian force to interject and improve enforcement, to adopt modern technology, and cooperation and engagement internationally. CS Kiang emphasized that the relationship of the economy to the environment is changing, and the challenge of creating balance is a global issue. In 2007, the environment is driving the economy more than ever. China's population consumes a lot of resources and is dependent on outside resources. Overall, one should consider climate change as a product of the industrial revolution. We must share the responsibility and not point fingers. Consideration of climate change issues should include consideration of the following: Mitigation, adaptation, technology, and finance. There is, as well, a need for a Data Center — for knowledge-based economic development — we are at a crossroads and should hope for transparency and respect for intellectual property. Ye Qi contends that there is a need for correct data. Some challenges in data collection and analysis include a lack of the quality of information as well as accessibility of the information. Public participation is crucial to collecting reliable information, which provides an opportunity for litigation and accountability. As it stands, there is a hierarchy of enforcement and distortion of information. Local government has no incentive to report good data. Lili Wang outlined the history and challenges of environmental communication. The trend for communication can be characterized as top-down. The mass media is the driver of the information that is available yet challenges in public awareness and reliance on government information is still a challenge.
Moderator: Roger Cohn
Kirk Smith explored the importance of environmental risk factors for health and the methods by which we can measure environmental risk factors. Smith contends that loss of time is the best measure. All human beings have the same potential life length, thus he recommends a method of analysis that takes into account the effects of risk factors (such as lifestyle and pollutants) on health and life expectancy. Rural areas rate the least efficient and most affected by health concerns. China has largest income inequality in Asia, with the poorer populations, and highest number of premature deaths, located in the rural areas. Peng Gong suggested ideas for and issues related to data assembling and analysis in China. Some suggestions included data collection and production at the national level, full-time researchers placed in ecological zones to conduct on-going research, and more NGOs in place with the goal of enhancing global sustainability and supporting environmental decision-making. Robert Spear contends that in order to better understand environmental health, knowledge of environmental changes needs to be improved. Low mobility in parts of China aided in the study of the spread of carcinogenics. Mobility is improving now and this kind of research is no longer possible. Parasitic disease (Schistosomiasis) is easily curable but can pray on poor regions. To prevent the spread of schistosomiasis, we need the capacity to act before change is actually possible. The current bottleneck is manpower; there is no such thing today as Chinese industrial hygienists. Therefore, a priority needs to be increasing understanding of the need for personnel to take care of other workers. There is a challenge in developing manpower in the trenches. A new kind of training should be developed to meet current needs.
Moderator: Lin Jiang
Jiang Lin began with a brief detail of CO2 emissions and some of the problems evident from these emissions. Max Auffhammer, in his research, employs statistics to evaluate CO2 emissions. Recently, China overtook the U.S. as the leader in CO2 emissions, a position held by the U.S. since 1980. The air quality now is 63% due to US, EU, and Russia. China and India are responsible for 10%. China can take a climate policy leadership role, something the U.S. has failed to do. Auffhammer suggests that China could adopt a sizable carbon tax and push others to do the same, which would sacrifice short term growth and trade off for longer more sustainable growth. Mark Levine examined patterns in carbon emissions. From 1980-2000 China put up way less CO2 than expected. 2001-present has been the opposite. China's goals by 2020 include tripling the GDP, and it is actually growing faster than projected. As a result, energy is skyrocketing. The Chinese government now recognizes the urgency related to energy use and the government has made a 20% reduction in energy use per unit a current serious goal. Will the data be reliable? Incentives exist to not be honest. Larry Li contended that use of Nitrogen- fertilizer is up and at rates ten times higher use than the global average. In terms of greenhouse gas, China is contributing 25-30% of Nitrogen into the air. In China, a farmer does not see himself as responsible for pollution, and there aren't personnel/scientists available to advise on effective strategies. It is important to achieve scientifically informed policy in China. Li believes we need international collaboration, genuine commitment, and work on the same issues to produce a sustainable future. ZhongXiang Zhang contends that China has been and continues to be involved in medium and long term development plan to fundamentally change the current path of encouraging economic growth at the expense of the environment in China. This includes energy saving and pollution control goals set for 2006-2010 known as the 11th Five Year blueprint. China is making substantial and genuine strides to improve its environmental policy and enforcement record, and many of these efforts have been successful. Jiang Lin closed the panel by asking: Can the world survive the American way of life? Many Chinese live on less than 1000; U.S. live on 44,000 (and greater energy usage). The challenge is bigger than China alone.
Jan Hamrin discussed her experiences doing business in China and connected this to initiatives encouraging sustainable energy programs in which she is involved. Hamrin emphasized that we need to get out of China's way — the wheels are already in motion and training and capacity building has been instrumental to success. To make things happen, however, a champion in key agency is needed. The major challenge lies in deciding how hard to push and when to step aside.
Moderator: Jeremy Potash
Jeremy Potash began the panel by outlining the problem of accurate data. Rule of law/transparency, lack of training in agriculture are included in the problems whose roots lie in insufficient information. There is evidence of abundant resolve beginning in 1980 when the central government voiced a strong commitment and a deep national concern about climate change. Po Chi Wu stated that business operates on imperfect data. Everything is in flux in China in both positive and negative ways. The key, for an investor, is to determine how to mobilize capital to create value. As an emerging resource, the energy of entrepreneurship is hard to measure. Successful models can demonstrate a scale through which improving price/performance and manufacturing efficiency are measured. Po recommends that individuals ask questions such as: Can Cleantech in China become a societal revolution? How do Chinese think about data? How much bias is there? What are value assumptions? We measure only what we can understand. And we can only improve what we can measure. Chris Raczkowski discussed the place of Azure International in China and its contribution to sustainable energy development. Azure is the developer of, and investor in, sustainable energy projects and technologies in China, with focus on wind, biofuels, waste to energy and CDM, and provides hands-on knowledge and extensive professional experience in the Chinese, European and North American markets. By 2020, ~US$100 billion will be invested in wind projects in China alone. Thus, the amount of clean tech investment in China for technologies and projects up to 2020 can reasonably be expected to exceed US$250 billion (or much more). The most important strategy for effective work in China is being present on a daily basis. Robert Collier emphasized the need for market mechanisms to foster green technology — green technology driven by government regulation. China has had great success because of these types of laws but there are difficulties with progress because the central government often lacks the capacity to get the local level to follow. Collier contends that foreign companies are making the largest gains in the Clean Tech movement. The issue of patents is preventing countries from receiving technology, which means developing nations without export talents do need patent relaxation. The Bush Administration believes the free market will direct the progress of Clean Tech and that no multilateral efforts are necessary on the part of governments. Collier disagrees and believes the government must play an active role. Daniel Spitzer discussed his experiences in China and the importance of considering China as a partner in the development of Clean Tech. In his work on fast-growth lumber, he finally received approval for ventures after an extended period of time. Initially there was no understanding of clean business — Spitzer had to open eyes to the need for green technology, and he struggled to find appropriate distributors. Less belief now exists in the Party. Doing good service through green technology has become a source of meaning for Spitzer and others.
Moderator and panelist: Gang He
Gang He described his work with CS Kiang in seeking new ideas/strategies for confronting environmental degradation. China is developing and needs to address subsistence needs first, and then consider historical emissions as well as transition emission. He also outlined the 11th Five Year Plan to assess national energy use and increase sustainability. Peter Perdue discussed environmental history over the past 200 years and determined that we are repeating much of what has already happened, and we have much to learn from past. He identified three themes generally covered in environmental history: famine relief, frontier expansion and land settlement, and response to crisis. Much can be learned about China's past responses to famine conditions. For example, during the Qing Dynasty, frontier expansion brought up many of the same issues that remain today. Transportation and minority tension are two of these issues. Perdue contends that what we know about recent events may be less than what we know about events 200 years ago. Environmental problems are long-standing — we need to learn from the past to understand the present. Chi-yuen Wang discussed water supply concerns in northwest China, where near-draught conditions are a threat due to very little waterfall. Xinjiang can be compared to America's 'Wild West,' meaning there is a concerted effort to conquer nature, but overuse and misuse of resources is a problem. Water use, melting glaciers and water contamination are all major challenges to water supply in China. Innovated means are needed to stop runoff from mountains and increase the recharge of groundwater. Lack of environmental awareness may be a basic obstacle that must be dealt with before law can have an impact. Michael Zhao, a journalist and documentary filmmaker, presented a recent documentary he produced. In the film, he interviewed people who live, and whose livelihood depends, on the Tibetan Plateau. Despite efforts to remain, many people are being pushed out due to decreasing water supply, making living conditions barely survivable.
Ma Jun discussed ways by which pollution in the air and water can be measured. He contended that we must achieve smarter growth with new strategies set by the top leadership including building a harmonious society and a look to scientific ways of development. Together, we must vow to change the ways of economic development. The past failures are due to gaps in the system, including weak enforcement and the low cost of violation (protectionism). Jun contends that the basis for changes that need to be made is access to information. With access to environmental information, public participation can increase. To further the public knowledge, Jun proposes the creation of a database through which researchers can compare and identify pollutants and volumes of pollutants emitted by different violators. To ensure accurate information, Jun believes that a commitment to correction and third party auditing, monitored by local environmental groups, must be made. So far, fifty companies have come to explain what went wrong and the correction action they took. To make sure improvements continue, and to provide corporations with the incentives to take responsibility, a new dynamic should be created between the government, private, and public sectors.
Moderator: Julia Strauss
Sheldon Brown opened the panel by explaining his use of art as a means of critical cultural perception. He constructs what he calls sublime creations to provoke cultural and social transformations and problemitize normative modes of representation. The Scalable City is artwork that engages urban development and its representation, which is a key step in development of urban environments. Harrison Fraker addressed the use of design as a means of interrogating a group of questions regarding the use of infrastructures that could increase environmental sustainability. Current development patterns (both urban and suburban) are dominated by "gated super blocks" with arterial roads, at approximately .5 - 1 km intervals. This development model is highly efficient at providing urban housing, but creates many negative "unintended consequences" including increased car dependence, congestion, and degradation of natural environment. In addition to the consequences listed above, the burden on China's infrastructure is immense. If Super-Blocks could be self-sufficient with respect to energy, water, and waste, demand on China's infrastructure and natural resources could be significantly reduced. Some suggestions for increasing efficiency include efficient lighting, constructed wetlands, roof-mounted photovoltaic devices, reverse osmosis technology, and integrated wind turbines, among others. Government can reduce the strain on the infrastructure by providing subsidies to land developers and builders that encourage 'eco-friendly' building as well as reward users with reduced fees payable on services and utilities to the government. Mark Henderson contended that land use directly affects the carbon cycle. While the Northern Rise Bowl and Three Gorges both have increased vegetation, the North China Plain, Yangzi Delta, and Pearl River Delta have all seen serious declines. Urbanization is important but also dangerous. With rapid urbanization since 1980 in these regions, there is substantially more CO2 released into the air. There remains a high level of variation in urban growth rates and effects of climate change: not benefiting as much as costs or visa-versa. Shannon May presented findings from her field research in the village of Huangbaiyu, a village that was to be a model for rural sustainability in China. The project failed (with the government expecting rural villages to pick up the slack), and May's research looks into the causes for the failure. Ultimately, she contends, the planning information is inaccurate and people's financial obligations are focused on weddings and healthcare, not rural development. She contends that we must recognize that in what form and how we collect our data matters and that no one will benefit from such sustainability movements if current conditions continue to be labeled as rural problems.
Jim Yardley detailed his experiences as a journalist in China covering the environment. Yardly contends that, living in Beijing, one learns that pollution is typical. It is both frustrating and exciting to be a journalist, and constant advice is given on what to cover. The longer you live in China the less you are sure that you know. Yardley contends that the problems with the environment are the cost of unchecked economic progress. As a journalist in China, Yardley has not experienced censorship in China for his work. The main problem has been access to officials. J visas are used to mean that you couldn't leave your assigned city without permission, but with the coming Olympics rules have been relaxed. In terms of development and environmental policy, the Party wants transparency and order, but may not want to give up any of its power. There is a question of whether the Party believes it can maintain control.
Thomas Gold closed the conference by offering summaries of the panels and details of the types of information shared in the two-day event. Gold noted that the panelists have gathered great amounts of primary data from many different sites on many different topics, and of many different sorts, and shared their data as well as their experiences in collecting and verifying it. Information is power. Though this is hardly the end of the conversation and we have not exhausted the list of people engaged in this work, we have also helped to break down the academic and bureaucratic silos which often prevent just this kind of sharing and interaction. The study of China's environment is still a relatively new field, and there is now a critical mass of people involved in it.
Estimated attendance for conference: 460
This conference was funded by a generous grant from the Luce Foundation as part of BCI's 3-part series on "The Production of Knowledge About China."
