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SEPA: Environmental Pollution May Incur 10% of GDP Loss
According to estimation by State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), the total loss incurred by environmental problems in China may drain away 10 percent of its GDP.
Chen Heping, official of State Development Planning Commission revealed the figure at the ongoing "Forum on Northeast Asia Sustained Energy Utilization and Consumer Education". He said that China's coal consumption comes to 27 percent of the world's total, and it's the only country in the world that mainly consumes coal for energy. China's carbon dioxide emission ranks second in the world, next only to America, taking up 13 percent of the world's total and its sulfur dioxide discharge has already come to the first place.
He said that China is a signatory of the UN Convention on Climate Changes. It will further control the growth rate of greenhouse gas emission according to sustainable development strategy.
Chen said that China has already become the third largest energy generating and second largest energy consuming country in the world. Experts predicate that the annual per capita energy consumption amount will reach 2.38 ton of standard coal by 2040, much lower than the current level of developed countries. But China would not step into the shoes of the developed countries. Modernization construction should be based on efficient utilization of normal energy and development of retrievable energy.
By PD Online staff member Li Yan
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