Li: Hi Professor Wang, I’m Li Lin, a correspondent from the University Newspaper. The staff and students here are getting more and more interested in the relationship between the environment and development. What do you think is the most serious environmental problem at present? What measures should we adopt to improve the environment and develop the economy at the same time?
Wang: There are many environmental problems: air pollution, water pollution, desertification, over-fishing, destruction of natural habitats, acid train, over-consumption of wild animals and plants, etc. But lying at the center of all those problems, as I see it, is the contradiction between economic growth and the environment.
Since the United Nations Earth Summit in 1992, more and more people and governments have adopted a new idea; that is, “sustainable development”. This means today’s economic growth should not wipe out he resources and options for future generations. Planning and development should ensure not only economic growth, but also social advancement and environment health. In other words, some economic behavior must be restricted or controlled. Instilling principles of development into government planning, resource management and economic policy is the most important step China could take to solve its environmental problems.
China has already taken some remarkable steps to reduce damage to the environment. For instance, following the huge floods of 1998, the government banned logging in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River in order to protect forests and reduce the risk of floods.
Still, the basic contradiction between environment and development persists. Much work is to be done before we can achieve the aim of a balance between economic growth and the environment.
