Yu Guirui

Editor's Note: Balancing economic growth and environmental protection is a challenge for every nation on the globe. Chinese enterprises are under pressure to try to reconcile these two goals. Many of them are forced to suspend production in order to meet emission reduction quotas. Will China's ecological situation inevitably worsen during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-16)? How can science and technology support economic growth in an eco-friendly way? People's Daily Online ( PO) interviewed Yu Guirui (Yu), deputy director of Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese. Academy of Sciences, on this issue.

PO: What are the principal environmental issues we are facing?

Yu: First, we should note that ecological issues are long-term, systemic issues and that there are wide regional differences.

Ecology is complex and intricate. The ecological environment is particularly complex in China. The monsoon region in the eastern regions has abundant rain and is densely wooded. In the western regions, there is less rain and vegetation. There are huge regional variations.

In addition, the rapid development of coastal areas has ushered in new environmental problems. With the intensification of industrial and human activities, air pollution - due in part to automobile exhaust fumes - is becoming more and more severe.

There are more and more hazy days. There have been huge losses in biodiversity, particularly in water resources. Some places are desperately short of water. Some areas have sufficient water supply, but the water is contaminated. There is not enough high-quality water.

We have to deal with composite pollution involving a combination of air, water and soil pollution with a variety of pollutants, which is particularly complex. It takes a long time to control, so the problem is even more complicated.

PO: What is the relationship between economic development and environmental protection? To what extent are they compatible?

Yu: Environmental protection is a process that stretches from protection right through to management, repair and the development of new technologies. The relationship between technology issues and economic driving forces is complex.

Firms and individuals promote economic development according to economic criteria that change constantly. But the ecological environment is specific and also vulnerable.

Compared with technological tasks in other areas, environmental protection and governance is a social welfare problem.

As Karl Polanyi wrote in The Great Transformation, the environment cannot be commodified. A country needs to take a more proactive role in protecting and managing the environment.

If citizens have not reached a certain level of educational or environmental awareness, it is difficult for them to spontaneously adopt eco-friendly behaviors. Laws, regulations and education are needed to guide them.

We can also start from a different point of view. Environmental issues have been with us from the dawn of humanity.

Especially since the industrial revolution, people have been aware of the importance of these issues. More attention must be given to major environmental issues. Without good governance, environmental issues will become a major obstacle, a bottleneck constraining the development of the Chinese economy, people's living standards and social development. We need a breakthrough in attitudes.