China warns of disaster if pollution not curbed

Beijing, Mar 11: Scientific approach to development might seem like at empty slogan, but China's environment chief thinks it's the tool he needs to tackle the country's pollution woes.

Zhou Shengxian took the position when his predecessor was forced to resign over his handling of a toxic spill last November that poisoned the Songhua River, a source of drinking water for millions, but Zhou said he was looking to avoid the same fate.

Since he took office in December, the government issued a decision on implementing its 'scientific approach to development' and strengthening environmental protection.

''It has equipped me with a very powerful weapon. If I use this weapon properly I will not end up resigning,'' said Zhou, who heads the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA).

More than two decades of 9.5 per cent annual growth have come at the cost of pollution so severe it has become a cause of riots, health problems and made China home to 20 of the world's 30 most smog-choked cities.

But in what has become a theme of the 10-day session of China's annual rubber-stamp parliament, when nearly 3,000 delegates meet to discuss and improve Communist Party policies, Zhou said the growth at any cost approach was changing.

''Prosperity at the expense of the environment is superficial and weak. It is only a delay of disaster,'' he said.

The Songhua River spill, which became an international incident when an explosion at a chemical plant sent 100 tonnes of cancer-causing benzene compounds flowing toward Russia, showed that a crisis is already underway.

In inspections of chemical plants following the spill, SEPA found dozens of others that posed safety hazards.

Its report to parliament said of that of 43,000 enterprises inspected nearly half were found ''with hidden danger in terms of environmental safety''. The report called the environmental situation across China ''very grave'' and said capacity to enforce and monitor environmental laws was lagging.

Zhou, along with China's top economic planners, have pledged reforms that better account for the cost of development, including changing the pricing system of water and energy so they reflect the scarcity of the resources.

''Under some conditions, development is like combustion,'' Zhou warned. ''What's burned away are resources, what's leftover is pollution, and what's produced in that process is GDP.'' The government is also introducing regulations that aim to integrate environmental losses into the evaluation of leaders, but analysts say it will take time before local officials, keen on boosting investment and accustomed to being judged on growth above all else, change their behaviour.

Officials are also sometimes reluctant to use cleaner technologies if they are more expensive. A 2004 SEPA survey found that only half of new sewage treatment plants were operating because cash-strapped local officials thought they were too costly to use.

REUTERS