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After the Games

By James P. Leape (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-11 15:58

Nothing is defined by the lack of something. And doing nothing is defined by the lack of action. Given our human tendency toward procrastination, doing nothing is something we're all too familiar with in our daily life.

But as an environmentalist, I can never be satisfied with this attitude as an acceptable approach to how we treat the earth. A report released in March of this year gave me yet more convincing evidence on why we, the people of this planet, cannot possibly afford the environmental costs of doing nothing.

This report comes from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an international organization that analyzes economic and social data. The numbers that jump out most in their 2008 OECD Outlook are its projections for the rise in greenhouse gas emissions, which are responsible for increasing global temperatures and large-scale climate disturbances. For the next 20 to 40 years, greenhouse gas emissions are expected to rise by 37 per cent by 2030 and by 52 per cent by 2050.

These numbers are real and they are startling. They will become our reality if we conduct "business as usual" with no new and effective implementation of climate change mitigation policies.

Policies like carbon emissions trading, removing government subsidies to heavy polluting industries, and improving environmental standards and public knowledge are just the beginning of what can be done to greatly help our current situation. The report shows that policies based on sound economic and market-driven incentives can bring about real environmental solutions that only cost a small fraction of the world's economy if we act now.

But a drastic shift of this kind, as recommended in the OECD report and foreshadowed by a series of other international economic and environmental organizations, takes genuine attitude and behavioral changes in governments, businesses, and individuals. With the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games is taking place, many people in and outside of the country are watching the Beijing Organizing Committee of the 2008 Olympic Games' greening efforts, and more importantly will be looking to see how these efforts can continue beyond the big event.

Air pollution is one of China's main concerns ahead of the Olympics. At the beginning of March, Beijing started enforcing a new standard for car emissions, China IV, which is in line with the European Union's Euro IV standard. According to the government, this will mean a drop in carbon monoxide emissions by 48,000 tons this year and inhalent particulate matter in the air by over 300 tons.

All new cars sold in the capital must comply with this standard and gasoline that meets China IV is now sold at gas stations. More recently, on July 1st, Beijing also banned 300,000 high-emission cars from the roads because these did not meet the city's emissions standards. But along with the odd-even car ban that took effect on July 20th, these restrictions will only last until September 20th.

These measures certainly deserve recognition and praise. In the long run, consistently raising emissions standards, and in a broader scope, creating incentives for adopting cleaner energy sources, will help improve China's air quality. This is an opportunity that will demonstrate the benefits of a long-term transportation and energy strategy, both to China's economy and environment.

The Olympics is one of the most widely watched events in the world, and is a commonly used platform for businesses to promote their products or services. Some businesses have made long-term investments towards Olympics-related projects that can impact on the environmental sustainability of their market. A demonstration building constructed by the Guoao Investment & Development Co Ltd uses timber for flooring and doors from member companies of the China Forest and Trade Network. The network was founded by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and has more than 40 member-countries that supply sustainable forest products. Using timber and wood products from well-managed forests is just one way the network can work towards eliminating illegal logging of threatened forests within China.

There are also opportunities for visitors to China to help reduce their environmental footprint. The average roundtrip flight from Paris to Beijing generates about 5 tons of carbon dioxide. When emissions can't be avoided or reduced in the case of air travel, travelers should offset their emissions. The cost of offsetting an average flight half-way across the world is about $100.

WWF encourages all Olympic visitors to travel responsibly and offset the emissions of their aircraft exhaust by joining the Go for Gold campaign (wwfchina.org/greenolympics). Projects approved by the Gold Standard (cdmgoldstandard.org) ensure the highest quality and most sustainable offsetting carbon credits. Moreover, the funds generated from offsetting go to clean renewable energy projects, such as wind and solar energy production. But offsetting is not a long-term solution.

Like an athlete, we must keep our attention focused on the goal - a clean, carbon-neutral future. Investing in green policies, innovative technologies and sustainable consumption are essential if we are to meet the challenges of climate change, challenges that will require us to remain vigilant long after the Olympic Games in China are over.

The author is WWF Director General. The views expressed in the article are his own.