Party goes for 'Green GDP'
the Chinese government finally decided to move to an alternative growth trail based on a 'green Gross Domestic Product (gdp)', says an October 2, 2005 Inter Press Service Agency report. The Communist Party of China recently unveiled a draft blueprint for the country's economic development in the next five years, which stressed the need for the conservation of natural resources and adoption of 'green gdp'. The proposed 'green gdp ' will calculate economic growth only after considering the cost of environmental impact and resource consumption. The country is aiming to achieve this green growth by making local leaders accountable for the use of resources and pollution.
Alarmed over the deteriorating state of China's environment, the government has determined that it wants the national economy to not only grow fast, but grow green too. This also reflects China's concern about its environmental image with the Beijing Olympics approaching.
Environmentalists believe pollution levels in China could quadruple within 15 years if the country doesn't curb its rapid growth in energy consumption. China's emissions of sulfur dioxide were the highest in the world last year. They caused acid rain across 30 per cent of the country, as a report released by the State Environmental Protection Agency stated recently.
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