New Report Shows China Failing to Protect Environment

A new report by the Chinese government has revealed that China is failing to make progress on protecting the environment.

|PIC1|China is one of the world's worst nations when it comes to climate issues, producing the second highest levels of greenhouse gases in the world after the US.

Specifically, the report gave China a ranking of 100 out of 118 countries that were surveyed using 30 indicators to reveal the level of "ecological modernisation" including carbon dioxide emissions, sewage disposal rates and the safety of drinking water, reports the BBC.

The research group's director, He Chuanqi, said, "Compared with social and economic modernisation, China's ecological modernisation lags far behind."

China at present has plans in place for the opening of a new power station every week, of which a majority would be coal-fired.

The World Bank has offered estimates that China will grow at six per cent per year over the next 15 years, which is twice the rate expected for the world economy as a whole.

China is also investing heavily in renewable energy with plans to ensure that 15 per cent of its energy comes from renewable sources, above all hydro-power by 2020.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Tony Blair told leaders gathered at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the Kyoto Accord should be replaced with a more radical deal that "includes all the major countries of the world".

Blair did warn however that any deal that did not include binding commitments from China and India would fail to successfully tackle global warming.