Greenpeace - Guiding China's energy revolution

The first China office of international environmental watchdog Greenpeace opened in 1997 in Hong Kong. Since then, this nearly forty-year-old organization's China division has expanded to include Beijing and Guangzhou.

China's breakneck economic growth will undoubtedly guarantee that environmental groups will have their work cut out for them. The storm of modernization that is currently raging in the country often pushes ecological matters to the side, increasing the need for activist groups to be there to draw more attention to these crucial issues.

Greenpeace is currently involved in running four large campaigns in China. For the past year, Zhao Ang has been working on one, which focuses on stopping climate change and improving energy efficiency.

The campaign focuses on the impact of climate change and on advancing the pollution control measures defined by the Kyoto Protocol. The same campaign also tackles energy consumption, Zhao says.

Zhao says that for years, Greenpeace has promoted the use of renewable energy sources in China, wind power especially. The group proclaims to advocate an energy revolution in China, which aims to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy sources.

In addition to the climate change prevention and energy efficiency campaign, Greenpeace has also initiated campaigns in three other sectors in China, namely forestry, food safety and agriculture.

Zhao Ang has worked on one of Greenpeace's major campaigns for over a year. (Image: Radio86)The forest protection campaign aims to preserve ancient forests and promote sustainable use of wood resources and forest management, Zhao explains. The use of toxins, such as pesticides and other chemicals is also closely monitored, and Greenpeace has already brought about some improvements by convincing a number of large electronics companies to give up using hazardous chemicals. Many companies are already using completely safe and clean materials to produce computers, mobile phones and other electronic equipment, Zhao says.

Third on the list is promoting sustainable, ecological agriculture. This campaign aims to ensure a sustained source of income for farmers and encourages consumers to favor ecologically and socially responsible brands. Gene technology, and gene manipulated rice in particular, pose a serious threat to China's agriculture and the livelihood of its farmers, Zhao says.

Concern over rivers

In addition to the four main campaigns, Greenpeace is active in addressing other regional issues, such as the shortage of clean water and river pollution.

In 2005, Greenpeace jointly conducted a wide-ranging study of the state of the environment at the mouth of the Yellow river. This region, Zhao says, is especially sensitive to changes in climate and the ecological system. Based on the assessment, the organization put forward a series of initiatives for improving the situation and for enhancing the lives of the local farmers and minority people. Zhao praises the report as a success, adding that the final assessment was also submitted to public authorities.

The Yellow river is one of China's major waterways, located in the north of the country, but the region still suffers from a critical shortage of water, Zhao says. The reason for this is that the river's water resources have long been overexploited by industry and the domestic sector. China's other large river, the Yangtze, has also entered a critical phase due to the rapid emergence of dams along it over the past twenty years as a response to growing energy needs. The ecological balance of the river has been disturbed and, as a result, the riparian populations also suffer, Zhao says. All these changes are impeding the capacity of the Yangtze to support the people living on its banks.

Greenpeace is an independent, non-religious and non-political organization, but it cooperates actively with local governments in China. Zhao mentions a wind power project between the organization and Guangdong Province as an example. There Greenpeace has been given the task of updating a report on the use of wind power and allocation of resources in the province by the end of this year.

Reaching out

When people hear about attacks on whaling ships off the coast of California or protesters chaining themselves to trees in Lapland, most immediately think of Greenpeace. These kinds of activities have drawn a lot of attention to the organization, and contributed to its interesting reputation, which divides people into supporters who see its campaigns as direct action for the environment, and into opponents ,who only feel aggravated by them. This kind of extreme action is, however, not favored by members of Greenpeace China, who prefer to use more subdued means to bring about change out of respect for the local culture and customs.

Zhao Ang says that in China, too, the organization has a controversial reputation, because it can always be found at the forefront of environmental activism. According to a survey conducted by Greenpeace, the Chinese in general have a very positive view of the organization. It is perceived as an effective instrument for protecting our planet and the environment, and for combatting climate change.

Greenpeace is only at the very start of its work in China, because it has only operated in the country for under five years, Zhao says.

Greenpeace's target group in China is young, urban people, but on a more general level, it promotes causes that are of interest to every single human being, Zhao says.

Zhao sheds light on the organization's functioning by saying that a lot of volunteers, many of whom are college graduates, work for the society. Greenpeace reaches people by distributing fliers and through cooperation with other non-governmental organizations, which is a very effective outreach tool, in rural areas especially, Zhao explains.

Greenpeace workers also visit villages on promotion tours and organizes a wide range activities for the volunteers and the general public. One example of such an event is a rock festival held in Beijing last spring which drew a crowd of 100,000.

Zhao thinks direct action is the most effective way to reach people. (Image: Radio86)In China, Greenpeace has a very good relationship with the media, Zhao says. The local media is very interested in environmental issues, and people are also free to express their view on topics related to the environment. Many environmental organizations have been founded by journalists, and the collaboration between non-governmental organizations and journalists has been very tight on some environmental campaigns. "Environmental journalism and the environmental movement are like brothers -- they always work together to get things done," Zhao explains.

Turning to cleaner energy

China has set itself the ambitious goal of cutting energy consumption by a fifth of the current level by the year 2010. Zhao has noticed that even the country's wealthiest population has become more concerned about energy consumption and the environment, and this is reflected not only in a rise in energy, but also water conservation and paper recycling efforts. Magazines also regularly publish articles on ways to save energy, but it is still not enough, Zhao says. The goals have to be set on a general level.

Every human being has the right to try and build a better life for him- or herself, Zhao says, but in doing so they should also try to strike a balance between striving for a higher standard of living and protecting the environment. That is the challenge faced by everyone of us, Zhao summarizes.

A standard of living equal to that of the US is no longer a possibility for China, instead, new models of society must be found. Building an environmentally responsible society with a high standard of living cannot be achieved without support from other countries, Zhao explains.

Currently, seventy percent of China's energy comes from burning coal. Zhao Ang says that cutting the use of coal is the biggest challenge faced by China's energy sector. Coal is also the most significant source of carbon dioxide emissions and one of the main contributors to climate change. Zhao says that the development of cleaner coal-based power generation technology has long been discussed in China, as well as in India, Russia and the US, but he thinks that the focus should be kept on utilizing the existing renewable energy sources. "We have ten years to deal with climate change. This is not a good time to develop clean-coal technology... Many renewable energy technologies are available now, so we should put more resources into developing them."

What kind of achievements has Greenpeace made in China? Zhao quickly names evaluating the ecological situation of the Yangtze river, as well as leading the battle against climate change. "We have improved public awareness on global warming, but it is a big project and we need more time and resources to get more results," Zhao says.

Speaking of time, what is the situation now? Do we still have time to reverse the effects of climate change?

"We only have about 5-10 years to solve the problem of global warming and come up with a new climate deal, and push every country, especially the developed countries, to commit. So, there is time, but we have no time to waste the chances. This is a very urgent time for the whole world," Greenpeace China's Zhao Ang concludes.