Yin and Yang: Striving For Sustainable Harmony In China By Wayne Visser I first visited China in 2008, where I presented at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) conference on Responsible Competitiveness, in Shanghai. I was also a judge for the Innovate China International MBA competition. My initial impressions were that - contrary to popular belief - in the medium to long term, China may very well set an example for other countries and companies in terms of sustainability and responsibility. A clue to my optimism came from something that William Valentino, CSR Director for Bayer in China, said to me:"Above all else, China prizes stability. And stability, in turn, can only be maintained under conditions of social upliftment and environmental improvement." Despite labor conditions remaining a concern, human rights abuses are starting to become the exception rather than the rule, and I believe China's sustained economic boom is doing far more social good than harm. Growth Hits Up Against Environmental Constraints Reconciling its new-found addiction to growth with environmental constraints, however, may prove its most difficult challenge yet. Elizabeth Economy, author of The River Runs Black, has studied China's environmental challenges in depth and believes the crisis they face is deep and intractable. The facts she cited when I interviewed her for The Top 50 Sustainability Books, were sobering, to say the least. She told me China has 20 of the world's 30 most polluted cities in terms of air quality. Seven hundred and fifty thousand people die prematurely every year in China because of respiratory diseases related to air pollution. Water is another major challenge. China has only 25 percent of the world's average per capita availability of water. Something like almost 30 percent of the water that runs through China's seven major river systems and tributaries is unfit even for agriculture or industry, much less any form of drinking or fishing. Between five and 10 cities will completely run out of water by 2050. China is roughly one-quarter desert, and the desert is advancing somewhere between 1,300 and 1,900 square miles per year. Furthermore, 10 percent of China"s agricultural land is contaminated with heavy metals and other contaminants. Read More... |