by Jimmy Huen jhuen@csr-asia.com
Just before the Lunar New Year, China announced the results of its first national pollution census, which mapped nearly 6 million sources of industrial, residential and agricultural waste.
The central government now has a year to use the census results to shape its next five-year environmental protection plan. Ministries are also studying the possibility of an environmental tax.
The survey, which took two years and 570,000 staff to complete, puts China ahead of other developing countries in having a detailed map of who is polluting and where.
The survey will have significant implications on the future of China’s environmental strategies and on businesses. China has factored agricultural sources into its pollution studies for the first time. According to Deborah Seligsohn, principal adviser for the World Resources Institute, "Many challenges China faces in terms of water quality come from organic pollution rather than from chemicals." Ma Jun, one of China's best-known environmentalists, also expressed that until now, the foundation of China's policymaking and environmental planning wasn't firm because agricultural pollution wasn't included. The inclusion of agricultural pollution sources is a huge step forward for managing and tracking future environmental initiatives. For agribusiness and FMCG manufacturers of food and dairy products, this would mark a watershed for an adoption of more sustainable business practices.
