Environment takes backseat to GDP

Shanghai devoted a smaller share of its resources and has met a smaller proportion of its goals for environmental protection from 2008 to 2012, despite growing public dissatisfaction with the city's environment in recent years, the local statistics bureau said Tuesday.

Although the city has increased nominal spending on environmental protection by 8 percent annually from 2008 to 2012, environmental protection spending as a percentage of local GDP actually fell over the period, according to a press release from the Shanghai Municipal Statistics Bureau.

For example, environmental protection spending equaled about 2.84 percent of the city's GDP, down from 3 percent of GDP in 2008. Essentially, environmental protection has not kept up with economic growth over the period, the bureau said.

At the same time, Shanghai's government achieved 88.5 percent of its environmental protection objectives in 2012, down from 93.2 percent in 2008. The bureau pointed out that the figure fell for three straight years from 2010 to 2012, though it didn't disclose the number of objectives for each year, or other year-by-year data.

The bureau also released survey results that found that public satisfaction with urban environmental protection has fallen since the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai.

The city's huge population, rapid economic and urban development, and agricultural pollution have strained the city's environment and resources, according to the press release.

In addition, the amount of arable land in the city has been shrinking since 2010 due to the rapid urban development. The bureau said there are only 2 billion square meters of arable land in Shanghai. It also pointed out that the government has met only a small proportion of its objectives for controlling agricultural pollution.

Shanghai ought to promote comprehensive utilization of agricultural waste, such as crop straw, which can be compressed into board materials, said Zhao Youcai, a professor at the College of Environmental Science and Engineering at Tongji University.

The bureau advised the government to boost spending on environmental protection and encourage enterprises to promote industrial transformation and low-energy consumption projects. It also suggested that the government improve environmental monitoring and start tracking more pollutants that pose a danger to public health.