China's environmental challenges have global implications: MSU scientists

Washington, Sept 22 (ANI): China's environmental challenges have global implications, and therefore, developed nations like the United States should help the country adopt integrated solutions for the sake of global sustainability, Michigan State University environmental scientists argue.

Jianguo "Jack" Liu, Director of the MSU Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, said that environmental changes in China have an impact on the whole world.

"China is growing very quickly and as its economy has grown, so have its environmental challenges. The first thing everyone needs to do is recognize the relationship between humans and the environment. Environmental problems are an indicator of human problems. By protecting the environment, people protect their health and their livelihoods," Liu added.

Peter Raven, president of the Missouri Botanical Garden and noted China scholar, also backed him saying that every country needs to recognize the important link between human and natural systems.

"We focus on China because the country is developing so fast. Its biodiversity, one of the richest sets of organisms in the world, is seriously threatened by extinction in the decades to come, but if preserved, offers great opportunities to us all for the future," Raven added.

Liu and Raven's paper, "China's Environmental Challenges and Implications for the World," is published in the September issue of Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology.

The paper examines long-term and recent socio-economic and environmental trends in China and outlines a systems approach to tackling China's environmental issues. These include economic stimulus money to invest in low-emission industries such as solar and bio energy, better coordination of environmental and economic activities at all organization levels, and working together with developed countries, such as the United States, and developing countries, such as India, to develop a global climate agreement and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. (ANI)