Turn down for...APEC?

  Earlier this month China hosted the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference. In an effort to come across as an environmentally responsible country it made sure to put a proverbial “fresh coat of paint” on their persisting pollution issues. According to an Associated Press article the conference took place in Beijing. Government officials of China prepared for the event by putting strict constraints on all pollution creating avenues by, “closing factories and construction sites, banning cars on certain days and postponing the seasonal start of a coal-powered heating system”. While a nice gesture, (I’m pretty sure everyone cleans up their place before they have guests) the bigger problem is that citizens of Beijing have become accustomed to checking certain apps in order to determine what they can do that day (jog at the park or at gym). The fact that Beijing’s citizens have integrated such behaviors into their everyday lives is worrying in and of  itself but here’s the kicker- during APEC the app that is most trusted and widely used was surprisingly out of commission.

As an area that is experiencing a huge boom of business development it makes sense to pay attention to the effects that such development has on the environment but the fact that this attention is only being paid while someone else is looking is disheartening. It also makes a larger statement of how China’s government truly values business in compared to quality of life and health. When the majority of developed countries look to China as a place where they can get their goods manufactured one must wonder at what cost?

It seems like the US and Europe are suffering from NIMBY (not in my back yard) syndrome and as a result sent the manufacturing problems to less developed countries and wrapped them in a bow of economic empowerment. The biggest advantage China and other developing countries can take when experiencing an industrial revolution is use technology in a proactive way that allows them to skip over the pitfalls already experienced in previously industrialized countries. Instead of re-visiting the past why not invent a new future that actually puts public health, safety and the environment first. 

A look at the above map gives a clear picture of how the factories and large driving population has created a huge pollution problem. There are so many problems that will arise environmentally if China does not get this issue under control soon. Hopefully new talks about environmental improvements in China will actually amount to something. In the meantime maybe more international conferences should be in Beijing, that way they’ll always have a reason to lower their smog emissions. 

Too Much Conflict and Not Enough Policy Makes MENA a Thirsty Region

Amid on-going conflict in many Mid-East and North African (MENA) countries, there is a huge problem that will affect that region’s ability to sustain population growth in the future. That problem is major lack of drinkable and potable water. Julia Devlin discusses the impact of this water crisis in her article Is Water Scarcity Dampening Growth Prospects in the Middle East and North Africa?

The region has managed to create an agricultural system that employs many but, MENA grows more susceptible to damage from climate change due to the area’s arid soil and low amounts of rainfall. In particular Syria is facing possible desertification of up-to 60% of its land area. There has been a surge in population and not enough preparations have been made to sustain the growth. Furthermore, current irrigation practices create a lot of wasted water due to their inefficient set-up.

There are many problems that the region has when it comes to creating a sustainable water solution. Few places have truly taken a look at how to deal with the looming crisis. One country that has is the U.A.E. They have worked on creating irrigation systems that are more efficient and use “smart” technology. This technology uses sensors that determine when and if a field needs more watering which, is a vast improvement in consumption compared to automatic watering systems that rely solely on timers.

 Naturally, areas that are in conflict and with little to no leadership and vastly smaller budgets may not have the ability to research and test such options as the U.A.E has. The point is that it seems that many of the areas that will be hardest hit by this water shortage are too consumed by ideological struggles to even begin the task of sitting at the table with other members of the region to begin making headway on a life sustaining resource shortage. Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees. Even if some MENA governments are not paying attention, the hope is that they have a community of citizens that are. Many major problems find solutions not from the government but from the people under its rule that needed the innovation most.