BEIJING 2008: GREENING THE GAMES?
Authors:
Chris Chan
Cynthia Koenig
Sumana Rajarethnam
April 24, 2006
Prepared for the International Economic Development Program, Ford School of Public Policy,
University of Michigan.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary ………….……………………………………………………....
Introduction …..…………...…………………………………………...…………….
1.1 What is sustainable development? …………………………………………
1.2 Rationale for ‘greening’ the Olympics ......……………………………......
1.3 Beijing’s Green Games …..…………...……………………..……………
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Section 2: China’s Plan ………………………………………………………………..
2.1 An Overview of China’s Plan………………………………………………
Air Quality
Water Environment
Ecological Conservation and Construction
Industrial Pollution
Solid Waste Management
2.2 A Quick Fix?..................................................................................................
2.3 Post-Olympic Outlook………………………………………………………
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Section 3: The First Green Games……………………………………………………… 12
3.1 Background ………………………………………………………………… 12
3.2 Successes …………………………………………………………………… 12
3.3 Failures ……………………………………………………………………… 14
3.4 Recommendations ……………………………….…………………………. 16
Section 4: Discussion ………………………..………………………………………….
4.1: Characteristics of the Chinese system that make problems
easier to solve………………………….………………………………….
4.2: Characteristics of the Chinese system that make problems
more difficult to solve…………………………………………………….
4.3 Sustainable Development in China: is it really
sustainable?………………………………………………………………….
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Section 5: Conclusion ………………………………………………………………….
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Bibliography …………………………………………………………………………..
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Executive Summary
China has taken a bold step in partnering with Greenpeace, the International Olympic Committee
and UNEP to participate in the ‘Green Olympics’- an environmentally friendly Olympics. In
fact, China’s portrayal of its ability to ensure a green Olympics may have been a key component
of their winning Olympic bid. However, China’s ability to realize this goal may be overly
optimistic. The past two Olympic Games, Sydney, Australia in 2000, and Athens, Greece in
2004, both failed to meet the goals of their Green Olympics agreements. China stands to make
history as the first Green Summer Olympic Games. In this report, we examine Beijing’s efforts
thus far, and compare them to lessons learned from Sydney.
China’s unique system of
government has enabled it to plan effectively and set measurable targets. However, there are two
main problems with China’s efforts. Firstly, it will be difficult to achieve credibility because of a
lack of independent auditing. Secondly, while China appears on track to achieve the short-term
goals of environmental protection, it is not clear whether they will transfer into long-term gains.
I: Introduction
Competition to host the Olympic Games has been fierce since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic
Summer Games proved that that it can be an effective instrument for reaching economic and
political goals, such as spurring economic growth, attracting government grants, creating a
favorable image of the host city nationally and internationally, and increasing the legitimacy of
the government hosting the games (Hiller 2000, Law 1994, Whitelegg 2000). Over the last
twenty years, this increasing competition has resulted in small differences in what candidate
cities offer in terms of infrastructure. As a result, symbolic differences between the candidates,
such as character and commitment to Olympic ideals, become much more important (Haugen
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2003). After an unsuccessful bid for the 2000 Summer Olympics, Beijing, China redoubled its’
efforts, and was elected as the host city for the 2008 Games. Haugen’s (2003) research suggests
that Beijing was selected because it succeeded in presenting itself as an Olympic city. This
paper examines one aspect that may have played a key role in Beijing’s successful bid – a
commitment to environmental sustainability, and evaluates the potential for Beijing to carry out
its proposed environmental improvements for the Olympic Games.
1.1 What is sustainable development?
In 1987, the Brundtland Report (also referred to as Our Common Future) highlighted the urgency
of making progress toward economic development that could be sustained without depleting
natural resources or harming the environment. Authored by World Commission on Environment
and Development, the report introduced and defined the term ‘sustainable development’ as
“development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs” (Our Common Future 1987:xx). This concept was widely
accepted, as evidenced by the global support for Agenda 21. A blueprint on how to make
development socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable in the 21st century, Agenda
21 is “a comprehensive plan of action to be taken globally, nationally and locally by
organizations of the United Nations system, governments, and major groups in every area in
which human impacts on the environment” (UN Department on Economic and Social Affairs
2005).
Following the establishment of Agenda 21 at the United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development in 1992, the Chinese government developed their own Agenda 21. The ‘White
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Paper on China's Population, Environment and Development in the 21st Century,’ designed as a
planning document to guide the country's social and economic development, marked sustainable
development’s first appearance in China. Over the last decade, sustainable development has
continued to be a buzzword, although the veracity of its’ implementation remains debatable.
Research points to more instances where social and environmental concerns are ignored in order
to promote the pro-growth policies that have propelled China’s economy at an average 8% clip
for the past decade, than instances where the principles of sustainable development are upheld.
At present, the challenges to the successful implementation of sustainable development in China
include the conflict between rapid economic growth and increasing consumption of resources
and ecological deterioration; social development lagging behind economic development;
widening disparities between different regions in social and economic development; constraints
posed by a large population and scarce resources; and inconsistencies between some existing
laws, regulations and policies and actual needs for sustainable development (People’s Daily
2003).
1.2 Rationale for ‘greening’ the Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Olympics made history as the first attempt at a ‘green,’ or environmentallyfriendly Olympic Games. In 2008, Beijing has the opportunity to make history as well, as the
first successful Green (Summer) Games. While its’ predecessors, Sydney, Australia (2000) and
Athens, Greece (2004) made some progress, both attempts to execute principles of
environmental sustainability at the Olympics are widely regarded as failures. (These efforts will
be discussed in more detail in section three.) Originally conceived by Greenpeace, the aim of the
'Green Games' was to create a global showcase for environmentally-conscious transportation,
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energy, waste disposal, refrigeration, and construction options (Greenpeace 2006). The concept
of the Green Games eventually developed into a mandate from the International Olympic
Committee (IOC), and has been a component of every Olympic Games since 2000 (IOC 2006a).
The United Nations Environmental Programe (UNEP) has been working closely with the
International Olympic Committee as well as the organizing committees of potential host cities
since 1994. UNEP is represented on the IOC Sport and Environment Commission, which meets
regularly to review environmental issues as they relate to the Olympic Games, and advises the
IOC Executive Board on environmental issues (UNEP 2005).
1.3 Beijing’s Green Games
Throughout the Olympic Games host city selection process, Beijing portrayed itself as a way for
the IOC to reach its environmental goals, a strategy that may have been key in winning the bid
(Haugen 2003).
For example, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games
(BOCOG) stated that “an enduring goal for the XXIX Olympic Games will be to popularize the
notion that the environment is the third pillar of Olympism and that sport can be a powerful force
in raising awareness about sustainable development at local and global levels” (CF 2001:59).
Furthermore, BOCOG made an effort to depict itself as an environmental leader in China
(Haugen 2003). According to Haugen (2003), just as the IOC presents itself as a forerunner of
environmental protection internationally, the Beijing Organizing Committee presents itself as an
agency that pushes for the integration of environmental protection in Chinese politics. Another
important aspect of Beijing’s successful bid was the argument that hosting the Olympics will be
the impetus for China as a whole to improve the state of its environment. For example, Beijing
argued its poor air quality should not detract from its potential as a host city, but that that this
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problem represented a large potential for improvement that could be realized through the
Olympics (Haugen 2003).
On July 13, 2001, Beijing was elected the host city for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (IOC
2006b). An agreement with UNEP formalizing Beijing’s commitment to the Green Games was
signed on November 18, 2005 (UNEP 2005). The primary goals of Beijing’s Green Olympics
are to “build an ecologically balanced city and create a pleasant environment for the 2008
Olympic Games; to minimize negative impact of Olympics on environment in line with the
sustainable development ideas of protecting environment and resources, and ecological balance;
and to implement education programs throughout the preparation and staging phases of the
Olympics in order to raise the environmental awareness of the whole society and encourage the
public to play an active role in the actions aimed at ecological environment improvement”
(Beijing 2008 2003). The specific details of these plans and an update on progress to date will
be discussed in more detail in the following sections.
II: China’s plan
2.1 Overview of China’s Plan
In its efforts to ‘green’ the Beijing Olympics, by 2007, Beijing will have spent US $12.2 billion
on environmental improvements. To achieve the goal of a “Green Olympics,” the Beijing
Olympic Action Plan states that priority will be given to environmental protection in the
planning, design and construction of Olympic venues and facilities. Furthermore, it claims that
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strict ecological environmental standards and systematic supporting systems will be established,
protection technologies will be used to promote environmental treatment and forestation, and
awareness efforts will increase the public consciousness and efforts towards green consumption.
Ultimately, Beijing hopes that these efforts will drastically improve the environmental quality of
the city and “build it into an ecological city” (Beijing Olympic Action Plan, 2002). The major
indicators that Beijing is using to measure environmental improvement are air quality, water
environment, ecological conversation and construction (“greening and beautifying”), industrial
pollution, and solid waste management.
Air Quality
There are numerous contributors to Beijing’s poor air quality, including regular sandstorms that
sweep across the city, construction projects that throw up massive amounts of dust, car emissions
from the over 2.6 million cars in the city (that number is expected to reach 3.5 by the time of the
Olympics), coal burning factories, and the overall rising levels of consumption of a growing
Chinese population and a society that is rapidly developing.
As part of longer term measures, over 4,000 old buses and 30,000 taxis have been taken out of
service or replaced in recent years (Bezlova 2006). They have been replaced by new vehicles
that meet stricter standards for pollution control. By 2008, Beijing aims to increase the number
of buses and taxis operating on natural gas by 37 percent (Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Bid
Committee, 2000). China has also instituted new vehicle-emissions regulations, expected to be
fully implemented by 2010, which are on par with the European Union’s automotive standards.
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Many more homes and industries are using natural gas or processed coal that produce low levels
of sulphur emissions.
City officials have begun a “blue sky day” count, and are aiming for 292 such days each year.
Last year, that number was just 234, and many believe that is an overly optimistic official count.
In the first few months of 2006, the Beijing local government recorded 20 days in January as
being rated “polluted” or “seriously polluted,” the worst levels for the month in six years. In a
report issued by the European Satellite Agency in September 2005, Beijing and the surrounding
area in northeastern China were named as having the world’s highest levels of nitrogen dioxide,
which can cause fatal damage to the lungs (Watts 2005). The gas is a key smog gas that
originates from power plants, heavy industry and vehicle emissions.
Water Environment
The decline in water conditions across China can be tied to the country’s population growth,
economic growth and increasing urbanization. By 2008, Beijing has the goal of water quality in
the area reservoirs to keep meeting national standards, resume function as a drinking water
source, that water quality continue to meet WHO guidelines, and the sewage treatment rate in
urban areas and satellite towns to increase to 90 percent (Beijing 2008 Official Guidelines and
Objectives).
Ecological Conservation and Construction
Beijing hopes to structure water consumption more efficiently to make more water available for
ecological purposes. It has also stated reforestation and increased greening space as major
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concerns for government planners. By 2007, it hopes that urban green coverage rate should be
raised to around 50 percent.
In an August 2, 2003 press release, the Beijing Organizing
Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) stated that its reforestation programs planted over
two million trees and three million square meters of grassland in 2002 alone (Beijing 2008
Official Website, 2005). In 2004, Beijing continued its efforts to green and beautify urban areas;
the forestation area in Beijing was increased by 404,800 mu (1 mu is equivalent to about 675
square meters), and the first city green belt was completed (Beijing 2008 Official Website,
2005).
Industrial Pollution
Beijing plans to relocate enterprises and take measures to prevent and control industrial
pollution. It plans to decrease coal consumption, from 26 million tons in 2002 to 15 million tons
in 2008, and replace it with natural gas (Xinhua, 2002). Since 2000, city leaders have exiled
over 1,000 heavy industrial and power-generating plants to the outside of the city, and coal
mines in the metropolitan area have been shut down. Experts estimate that dust stirred up by the
large number of construction sites contributes 20-30 percent of the suspended particles in the air,
with another 40 percent being caused by heavy traffic and the growing number of cars in the city.
So in its desire to clean up the air before 2008, city leaders have declared all construction should
cease by the end of 2006.
In the building of its Olympic venues, Beijing plans to adopt newer technologies in order to
protect the environment and conserve resources. These include employing cleaner energies,
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environmentally-friendly building materials and energy-saving technologies including rainwater
collection, gray water utilization, natural ventilation and natural lighting, in efforts.
Solid Waste Management
Beijing set 2005 as a goal to have properly treated all domestic refuse generated in urban areas
and satellite towns. So far, the rate of safe treatment of waste in urban areas is 93 percent
(Beijing 2008 Official Website, 2005). An additional goal for solid waste management is that 80
percent of industrial solid waste by reused or recycled and all hazardous wastes be safely treated
and disposed. By 2008, Beijing hopes that noise in urban areas reaches the national standard,
and that radiation and radioactivity comply with national standards as well.
2.2 A Quick Fix?
Beijing is so effective at pouring concrete that it is well ahead of schedule in its Olympic
construction project – so far ahead that the International Olympic Committee has asked Beijing
to slow down rather than finish construction too soon. The irony is that Beijing has not been as
quick to reach its goals of environmental sustainability. In fact, one reason why they are hastily
building is because of a moratorium on construction in the months leading up to the Olympics,
due to the dust and pollution that these projects cause in Beijing.
The construction moratorium is an example of the many stringent measures that Beijing is taking
to temporarily clear the city’s polluted air – one of the luxuries afforded by its authoritarian
government regime. The strong central planning exercised by the Chinese government allows
the leadership to make tough decisions and implement them quickly. The temporary ban on
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most automotive vehicles, the halting of industrial factories and power plants in the time
surrounding the Olympics, the spraying of Beijing streets with water several times a day and the
artificially-generated rainfall to wash suspended particles from the sky are all measures being
taken that will at least in the short-run improve the city’s environmental appearance.
2.3 Post-Olympic Outlook
Even if Beijing is able to live up to its commitments by the time of the Olympics, the larger
question at hand is, will the greening of Beijing last? After the Olympics, millions of cars will
be back on the roads, the city’s factories and power plants will once again be emitting fumes, and
thousands of construction projects will start up again as Beijing gets back to its normal life. The
city’s rapid economic growth may very well be undermining the measures put in place to
improve its environment. The growing Chinese middle class, with its consumerist identity, is
putting serious environmental pressures on the country.
Pollution levels can more than
quadruple within 15 years unless China can find ways to slow the rise in energy consumption
and automobile use, according to Zhang Lijun, Deputy Director of the Environmental Protection
Agency (Watts 2005).
According to Wang Dawei, Beijing’s Environmental Protection Agency director, “in a
developing nation, in a city of 13 million people, it is very difficult to make rapid progress. But
we hope to build on the progress we make. The situation should ultimately improve.” (Daily
Times, April 7, 2006). In order to bring about improvements, China will undoubtedly need to
find a way to utilize its centralized power to both continue economic development and promote
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sustainable environmental development. Thus far, it appears that most of its efforts stop short at
2008.
III: Sydney’s attempt to ‘green’ the Olympics
3.1: Sydney 2000: Background
The Sydney Games was the first attempt to Green the Olympics. In the final analysis, the Sydney
Games was considered to be a mixed bag in terms of its ‘green’ performance. However, it was
important for two reasons. Firstly, it was the first attempt at ‘greening’ the Games, and many
lessons were learnt. Secondly, given Australia’s commitment to the environment in general,
there were several aspects of Sydney’s performance that was outstanding. In fact, Sydney
performed better than Athens, which was considered to be an abject failure.
3.2: Successes
There were a number of notable successes that were a result of the Sydney Olympic Committee’s
efforts to bring environmental ethics to the design, construction, and implementation of the 2000
Summer Games. The section will examine these successes, including clean-up of a toxic site
increase in renewable energy use, reduction in PVC use, sustainable water management, better
public transportation, and use of solar and electric vehicles (Greenpeace, 2000; Greenpeace,
2001; New South Wales Sustainable Development Authority, 2006).
Toxic Contamination
In terms of site selection for the Games Village, the organizers from Sydney chose bravely.
They chose Homebush Bay, ‘Sydney's wider Homebush Bay area was the site of wholesale
dumping of domestic, industrial and commercial wastes from the 1930s until the 1980s. Nine
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million cubic meters of waste were dumped in the area, filling more than 160 hectares of the
natural wetlands in the area. Some of this was made up of extremely hazardous industrial waste
and has had a significant impact on the wider environment and receiving waters due to its
toxicity, persistence and/or bio-accumulative nature’ (Greenpeace, 2000). The site selection was
in effect killing two birds with one stone. They would clean up a highly toxic area and aimed to
build sustainable and environmentally sound infrastructure there.
Energy
At the Sydney Olympics, renewable energy has virtually substituted conventional fossil fuels to
meet the huge energy demands of a modern Olympic Games showing that it can be done cost
effectively. With over 90 per cent of Australia’s energy generated by coal-fired power stations,
the switch to clean, renewable energy at the Olympics was an important success. Remarkably,
the grid-connected solar photovoltaics installed at the Olympic Park contribute nearly half of all
New South Wales’ grid connected PV power (New South Wales Sustainable Development
Authority, 2006). The use of rooftop solar power for electricity and water heating at the Olympic
Athletes’ Village is proof that an average home can be directly powered by the sun's energy
(Greenpeace, 2001).
PVC Use
Olympic building construction is proof that PVCs (polyvinyl chloride) can at least be minimized
or avoided. The manufacture, use and disposal of PVC produces hazardous chemicals including
dioxin, which has been linked to birth defects, cancer and hormone disruption. PVC use was
reduced at the Sydney Olympics particularly in water and waste pipes used on most
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Olympic venues. An Australian-made PVC-free cable was developed especially for use at the
Athletes’ Village and other venues and is now available to the Australian market (Greenpeace,
2001).
Water
Solid efforts were made to introduce sustainable water management systems at Sydney’s
Olympic Park. Key features, such as the design of the Park to maximize collection of storm
water and minimize on-site demand for water, were important in creating a more ecologically
sensitive site. The collection and recycling of wastewater for on-site treatment and the provision
of separate potable and non-potable supplies to reduce demand on Sydney’s primary water
supply were good achievements (Greenpeace, 2001).
Transport
One of the most significant successes of Sydney’s Environmental Guidelines was the high
degree of public transport used for the movement of people. No provision was made for
spectators to drive their cars to the core site of Olympic Park at Homebush Bay. Strong
incentives to use public transport for other sites were developed by building the cost of public
transit into event ticketing. The use of electric and solar-powered vehicles at Olympic Park was
commendable (Greenpeace, 2001).
3.3: Failures
Although the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games had a number of notable environmental successes, it
ultimately failed to achieve the goal of environmental sustainability. This section will examine
the areas where Sydney 2000 fell short (Greenpeace, 2001; Ministry of the Environment,
Australia, 2006).
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Toxic Contamination
Selection of Homebush Bay as the site for the Olympic Village was a daring move. However,
given the scope of clean up efforts at the site, and the Committee’s selection of short-term
solutions, it was bound to fail. For example, the Committee chose to landfill the site instead of
segregate and treat it. They also chose to treat only the Homebush Bay site, ignoring the
surrounding area that was contaminated but not part of the Olympic Village. Consequently, the
system must now be maintained with care to ensure that leaching of contaminants does not occur
(Ministry of the Environment, Australia, 2006)
Energy
In general, the energy commitment was excellent at Sydney. The only disappointment was a lack
of commitment to purchasing long-term Green Power for all Olympic Venues.
Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration
Sydney’s failure to meet its own Environmental Guidelines in the areas of air conditioning and
refrigeration (RAC) in Olympic venues is widely regarded as the largest and most systematic
environmental failure of its Olympic Games. Greenpeace contends that Australia missed an
important opportunity to use the Environmental Guidelines to push its air conditioning and
refrigeration industry towards clean, non-ozone delpeting alternatives, such vapor compression
using hydrocarbons and ammonia.
Timber
Regrettably, Sydney’s Olympics did not move Australia closer to adopting independent timber
certification as a measure of local forestry best practice – an ongoing environmental problem
nationally. Due to the failure to establish an effective locally certified sustainable timber system
in time for the Olympics, emphasis was directed at sourcing native forest timbers with at least a
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chain-of-custody and recycled and plantation timber. Extensive use was made of recycled and
plantation timbers, especially in the application of engineered plantation timbers for joists,
bearers and custom trusses. On the whole, although information was difficult to obtain in some
instances, responsible timber practices seem to have been adopted by most Olympic venue
developers (Greenpeace, 2001).
Water
A reliance on conventional technologies for wastewater collection and treatment meant that more
sustainable options were overlooked. At a minimum, the water management system at Olympic
Park, an anaerobic digester and a combined heat system could have enabled separate grey and
black water collection and power stations for better environmental results (Greenpeace, 2001).
Transport
The disappointment was in the inability of the local automotive industry to seize the opportunity
to showcase new cleaner technologies in personal transportation, such as low emission fuel or
hybrid fuel cars. While spectators were moved around by less polluting modes of transport,
Olympic VIPs were transported by low-efficiency, petrol burning Holden vehicles that produce
more greenhouse gases than their original designs did in 1948 (Greenpeace, 2001).
3.3: Recommendations: Sydney Takeaways
1.Make specific environmental commitments as part of developmental plans well before design
plans are final and make these commitments public.
2. Environmental guidelines must be clear and specific. There must be pertinent legislation to
back up the guidelines. The guidelines must be included in all public tenders.
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3. The country Olympic Committee must be made responsible for the collection and
dissemination of all environmental information of their project. The information should be made
publicly available.
4. There should be an independent auditing committee of all environmental information to
ensure credibility.
5. The best and most cost effective environmental systems and materials should be used
throughout the project regardless of how each project is managed. There is an international
network of environmental building that should be tapped, even if this means that some profits go
out of country.
6. Community, social and environmental groups should be consulted about the project from the
beginning.
7. Education about environmental initiatives undertaken and the benefits gained is essential to all
levels, from the public to the athletes, sponsors and the media and commercial sector.
8. There should be a media unit dedicated to monitoring progress on Green Olympic goals.
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IV: Discussion
4.1: Characteristics of the Chinese system that make problems easier to solve
The Chinese system is centrally organized, with a great degree of power nested at the top.
Should the authorities decide that they want to pursue the Green Olympics mandate in earnest,
they have control of the relevant policy levers. For example, it would be relatively easy in China
to require that all timber must be bought from a reliable and environmentally certified source.
The Chinese authorities would be very sensitive to a big policy failure and are motivated to do
what it takes to conform to the standards that they have set for themselves.
In terms of the planning for the Green Olympics, Chinese authorities have at least done a good
job on paper. The centralized nature of the planning commission and the authority vested in them
means that the project management teams for each individual construction project can easily
achieve a high level of coordination. The Chinese authorities also have the relevant lawmaking
power to shift communities out of the Olympic development zone with relative ease. Chinese
public education campaigns have worked well in the past and in theory, they should be able to
transfer this experience into effective public education concerning environmental practices
before and after the Olympics. The Chinese Olympic Commission should be able to effectively
collect information on the environmental practices and disseminate it to the public.
4.2: Characteristics of the Chinese system that make problems more difficult to solve
Ultimately, the weakness of the Chinese Environmental Agency will likely effect its ability to
produce and enforce all the necessary legislative changes that are necessary to achieve long-term
environmental sustainability. Unless the central government significantly increases the authority
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of its Environmental Agency, any environmental gains realized by the Green Games will
probably be short lived.
Although the Chinese authorities have set up legislation and thoroughly documented their Green
Olympics goals, there is a lack of independent auditing. The Chinese authorities have control of
the whole process, which means that it will be difficult for them to achieve credibility, especially
if they are seen to be manipulating data or information. The Green Olympic effort will be under
constant scrutiny from Greenpeace and the plethora of international press organizations that will
be present at the Games.
The Chinese do not have experience with environmentally friendly construction techniques,
which means that they will have to rely on foreign expertise. However, this may detract from the
full amount of benefits that can be accrued from Chinese construction companies. While one
could look at this as an invaluable opportunity for learning how to build in such a manner,
especially with a long run purview, it is not clear to the writers of this report that these benefits
are being sought out by the Chinese. Without such technology and expertise, it is unclear
whether targets such as an environmentally friendly Olympic Village can be built.
Chinese authorities did not consult with community or social groups in the process of setting
realistic goals for the Green Olympics. This however, may not be an impediment in China,where
this is not the usual practice. There is evidence of some displaced communities from areas in
Beijing, but it is not clear what the link would have been to achieving a green Olympics and is
thus beyond the scope of the paper.
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4.3 Sustainable Development in China: is it really sustainable?
The question of whether Beijing can achieve the lofty environmental goals to which it has
committed remains to be seen. Some of the challenges facing the city include: developing the
capacity to treat solid waste and wastewater in an environmentally-friendly way, reducing air
pollution, and ‘greening’ forty percent of the city by planting trees and gardens. Tackling just
one of these monumental projects would be impressive. As a result, critics question China’s
ability to achieve all of its ambitious objectives – and are skeptical of the Olympic Games’
potential to truly impact Chinese environmental policy. For example, to take the case of air
pollution: “in 2004, Beijing's air pollution reached a concentration equal to that of New York,
Chicago and Atlanta combined” (Spears 2006). A major contributor to the problem is the
increasing number of automobiles in Beijing – with only 1% of China’s population, Beijing
residents own more than 5% of China’s autos – and this figure is on the rise (Spears 2006). The
government’s plans to improve air quality for the Olympics include relocating and temporarily
closing coal-burning heavy industries, constructing an extensive subway system, and requiring
home use of natural gas by 2008. Auto emissions will be addressed primarily by shifting traffic
patterns and encouraging the use of mass transit, but these are short-term solutions.
Consequently, critics, including Beijing Mayor Wang Qishan and the Energy Research
Institute’s Jiang Kejun, are not optimistic about these efforts to ensure clear skies in the long run
(Spears 2006, Kejun 2006).
Kejun specifically questioned the legitimacy of Beijing’s
commitment to the ideals of sustainable development.
V:Conclusion
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Cosmetically, Beijing 2008 appears to have all the trappings of a Green Olympics. It has set up
clearly defined targets in energy, water, waste management, air and noise pollution. However, it
seems to have less clear and sometimes absent goals on environmentally sustainable
construction, transportation and air conditioning and refrigeration. With about two years left
before the Games, it will be difficult to make any more improvements that have not already been
planned for. This is rather disappointing, as the problems with the last three environmental
factors were clearly shown during the Sydney Games. Moreover, while Beijing is on track to
achieve the Green Goals that it set out to achieve, it is difficult to see these short run gains
translating into long run gains of moving China towards a more environmentally sustainable
economy and infusing its citizens with an environmentally conscious outlook. These are long
term goals of the Green Olympics. A factor that interacts with these goals is the Chinese media
and lack of independent accounting for the goals. The Chinese media will want control of the
environmental agenda, although it will be difficult given the sheer quantity of foreign media
sources that will be present during the Games. The advantage will still lay in Chinese hands as
they control the information pertaining to the achievement of Green Olympics goals. However,
without independent accounting, it will be difficult achieve credibility.
China looks on course to perform better and is at least making much more of an effort than
Greece did in 2004. However, it is unlikely that China will be able to surpass the mixed
performance of Australia in 2000. The Green Olympics remains a lofty concept that has not been
successfully translated into sustainable practices on the ground.
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