There is perhaps an iconic image of China in the minds of many in developed and western nations of smog-filled Chinese cities, marred by billowing smoke stacks, traffic jams, and citizens forced to wear masks to protect themselves from the smoke. It seems deeply unfamiliar to those living in nations that have not seen serious smog for decades thanks to environmental laws. It’s what one might imagine Victorian London to have been like.

China’s record

This image is not exactly unfair. China is notorious for its poor record on environmental issues. As a developing nation, the country is world renowned for its emerging manufacturing base, making everything from toys to consumer electronics, and with lax labour laws and environmental regulations, they produce a lot of goods very quickly, very cheaply, and very un-environmentally. This lack of regulation has consistently prompted anger from western countries, both due to their inability to compete with such an economy and due to the ethical impact of resulting business practices. It has paid off. China’s growth in recent years has been exponential, but it is growth at all costs. As a result, China is the most polluting nation in the world.

China has always argued that to pollute is part of industrialisation, as Western nations did during the Industrial Revolution, but the impending climate crisis demands greener ways of bringing about the sort of economic growth that developing countries need. On the world stage, China has stood in the way of meaningful action on climate change, because of how intrinsic loose environmental regulations are to their prosperity.

Change is coming

This image of the country is entirely fair, but there seems to be some recognition that this is a problem. We are seeing the beginning of the country taking a whole new approach to environmental policy. In April, the nation’s government opened an Environment Ministry for the first time – a huge department, which seems to suggest they are starting to address the issue at last, giving it the resources and focus that environmental policy has lacked in China.

The government has also made significant investments in renewable energy sources, with the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, to provide hydroelectricity, and extensive investment in solar panels in cities across the nation, including the capital of Beijing, Chongqing, Suzhou, and many others, which take up large proportions of the city’s space. This investment in renewable power is seemingly to offset the environmental costs of industry, but it’s not enough alone. While recent moves have been a start, China still needs to take action to introduce environmental regulations on manufacturing and vehicles if it wants to make a solid contribution to a greener world, and take itself off the number one spot of polluting nations.