Translated by Alessandra Fumagalli
China is facing severe water pollution issues, due to the rapid industrialization and urbanization that brought to industrial, agricultural and home not-treated drains towards rivers and lakes. Industrial areas, like Yellow River and Yangtze River’s basins are strongly damaged. The high use of pesticides and fertilizers contribute to eutrophication, damaging water ecosystems and food security. China is applying stricter environmental politics, but the sustainable management of water resources still represents a complex challenge.
Chinese pollution is a huge environmental and sanitary challenge that led the government to undertake important political initiatives. In the last few years, the gravity of the situation has emerged, in particular as far as water and air pollution is considered. In 2016, the concentration of fine suspended particles (PM 2,5) in different cities in Northern China went beyond the tollerability’s limits of the World Health Organization (WHO). This situation has launched some alarms about public health, underlining the need for some focused interventions. Simultaneously, the Minister of Ecology and Environment stated that almost two-thirds of water tables and one-third of surface water were polluted. The contaminants are pesticide, heavy metals and chemical substances, and civil waste, therefore more than a half of the water is undrinkable. This decline of water resources is worsened by the salubrity of soils: 20% of Chinese soil wasn’t safe, because rainwater is polluted due to heavy metals and other polluting substances. Since 2006, around 80% of Chinese water was thought to be strongly polluted.
In 2017, President Xi Jinping highlighted its commitment to the fight against pollution, introducing new rules. In 2018, China banned waste’s import and imposed the recycling of home waste, in order to promote a more sustainable economy and improve air quality. In 2019, the Government announced to have reached 5 out of 7 points for water’s salubrity, indeed 95% of water in big cities were considered drinkable. However, there is still much to do to improve water resources at a national level, and there is the need for efforts to treat wastewater and promote renewable energies.
In 2024, China has made significant progress in the fight against water pollution, but there are still several challenges. It has adopted 130 policies to improve water’s quality, like the Water Ten Plan and the law on Yangtze River’s protection in 202, whose aim is to protect the longest river in China. Moreover, sponge cities initiative is another step forward, aiming at improving urban water’s management through artificial zones and permeable soil. This initiative has been adopted in 30 big cities, and aims at enabling 80% of urban areas to absorb and recycle water by 2030. Some coastal cities, like Shanghai, are at risk of increasing sea level, and flood and drought regularly damage some parts of the country, causing huge economic and social damages. Despite these efforts, China has to face severe climate change challenges, including extreme meteorological events, that threaten water quality, as well as human and sanitary stability, which, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) is responsible for killing around 1,7 million children under five years old at a global level. In China, parts of these deaths are due to air and water pollution, leading to respiratory, cardiovascular problems and cancer.
In conclusion, even if China has made several steps forward as far as the management and the protection of water resources are concerned, a strong commitment to face the future environmental challenges is needed.
Mondo Internazionale APS - Riproduzione Riservata ® 2024