Pollution has made cancer China's leading cause of death.
750,000 people a year die prematurely in China because of pollution.
Only 1 percent of China's 560 million city dwellers breathe air considered safe by the EU.
China's human rights record is being thoroughly examined in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics. Yet even with such a strong commitment by human rights groups, pollution continues to exist outside of their agenda.
"Those who pollute are not just committing a crime against nature, but are violating human rights." --UN Environment Program, Klaus Toepfer, 2001
Within China, one-fifth of the world's population is suffering from grave abuses; clean water and air, what the UN Millennium Project Report calls, "preconditions for human life," are fast-becoming memory.
Pollution is not only a threat to an individual's health, but a multi-dimensional violation of one's dignity, safety and psychological well-being.
According to the UNHRC, "everyone has the right to live in a world free from pollution." Despite this acknowledgement, on the Amnesty International website "pollution" remains absent from "Beijing Olympics Priority Issues." The same is true of Human Rights Watch.
Instead, pollution is addressed through "business and human rights" or by "health and human rights."
Human Rights Watch describes itself as "standing with victims and activists to bring offenders to justice." This objective is being met in China in regards to the most frequent subject of public protest: land disputes. Yet, the second most frequent subject of protest, pollution, is an issue the Chinese people are engaged in without direct support.
In 2005 there were 55,000 environmental protests reported, a 30% increase on the year before. That same year police killed at least three villagers in Dongzhou, Guangdong province, while quelling a riot over a planned power plant.
On 4 May, police severely beat seven demonstrators who were trying to shut down a factory in Zhejiang province.
The scale of the problem is daunting. Pan Yue, deputy minister of China's environmental regulator, SEPA, estimates the annual cost of environmental damage at 8-13 percent of GDP--effectively canceling out China's annual economic growth rate.
Furthermore, Mr. Pan projects the levels of pollution in China to double over the next 15 years.
Connecting pollution and human rights, provides a key for individuals suffering from pollution in the name of "economic progress." Individuals will be able to recognize a violation when it occurs and demand that development happen in a just manner, fully respecting their human rights--without exception.
Also, members of the activist community, traditionally considered part of distinct domains, can together engage from a stronger, more unified starting-point, to realize shared goals, i.e. environmental and human rights organizations.
As stated in the UN Millennium Declaration, we must "spare no effort to free all of humanity, from the threat of living on a planet irredeemably spoilt by human activities."
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June 14, 2008
Heinrich Bonnenberg, Energiewerke Nord
DGAP, Platinum Contributor (224)
I had many discussions about the environmental situation with political, business and scientific elite and I have found that it is completely understood the necessity for improving the environmental situation and that they have also understood that good environment is a basic right.
We should not criticize worthy China with moral arguments; we should assist by telling them how we in our country have solved and are still solving the problems.
German industrialization started in the second part of 19th century, with a high booming after the second world war. But the German environmental laws are only from 1957 water, 1974 air and noise, 1977 nature, 1986 waste, all being furthermore developed till today. Environmental development needs much time, in cultural understanding, in development of technologies, in administrative realization.
The Chinese are very interested to adopt our lessons learnt, experiences, developments and all which is connected with environmental protection, protection for nature entirely, not only for men.
It would be interesting if some body could tell us what e.g. Germany is doing to assist the Chinese in realizing efficient environmental protection.
I ask for fairness and respect for great China.