Thursday June 01, 2006

China growth unsustainable on all counts

energybulletin.net -> news.yahoo.com :

China's growth model, based on the West's economic model with its massive appetite for resources and increasing environmental degradation is unsustainable and will have to change, a leading environmentalist said. Lester Brown, head of the Washington-based Earth Policy Institute, told reporters in Beijing that China's current path could not be maintained at either the national or international level.

"The Western economic model - the fossil fuel based, automobile-centered, throwaway economy - will not work for China," Brown said. "If it doesn't work for China, it will not work for India or the three billion other people in developing countries who are also dreaming the American dream."

Brown, in Beijing to promote the Chinese edition of his new book, "Plan B 2.0, Rescuing a Planet Under Stress," said China had overtaken the United States as the leading consumer of most basic commodities and would soon face major shortages. "Among the five basic food, energy and industrial commodities - grain and meat, oil and coal and steel - consumption in China has eclipsed that of the United States in all but oil," he said.

On oil, Brown pointed to a similar scenario of simply not having enough to meet China's demands. "If oil consumption per person reaches the US level by 2031, China will use 99 million barrels a day. "The world is currently producing 84 million barrels a day and may never produce much more."

"Environmental scientists have been saying for some time that the global economy is being slowly undermined by environmental trends of human origin," Brown said. Coupled with climate change, Brown said that "we may be approaching the point of no return." To avert disaster, the world must embrace renewable energy, move to eradicate poverty, stabilize populations and restore natural systems, he said.

See also :

1. Booming nations 'threaten Earth'
2. Shortfall of metals risks China's rise
3. Bubbling economy means water woes in China
4. China's Next Big Boom Could Be the Foul Air
5. Eco-Cities in China

(2006-06-01 12:44:09 SGT) [Env] Permalink

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