Is China Going Green? -- Part III. It is I Tell You. It is.

Today's International Herald Tribune has a story on the Chinese government seeking to include a pollution index in future GDP measurements.  Entitled,"China Pushes Idea of 'Green GDP Index,"" the article states that China's Parliament will be debating the Green index during its March 5, 2006, session.  The enactment of such an index likely will have major ramifications in China. 

Chinese government officials are graded and paid based in large measure on how they perform.  A government official who brings in a lot of investment to his or her region does well.  If "greenness" is incorporated into China's various financial measurements, Chinese government officials will go green. 

We previously blogged here and here on China's greening will impact foreign companies.  It will lead to an increased demand for sophisticated environmental services and it will lead to tougher environmental laws in China.  Both of these are already happening. In response to one of these posts, a reader sent me an e-mail skeptically asking if I really believed China was getting serious about the environment.  I definitely do.

China is serious about the environment for one simple reason.  It wants to keep its citizenry satisfied because satisfied citizens do not to take to the streets. Clean air and clean water are the basics citizens expect from their government. I just returned from ten days in China and virtually every day I was there, the Chinese government newspapers had a front page environmental story. These articles talked about such things as the toughening water and air pollution laws, the need to have cleaner air in office buildings, the just enacted laws mandating much stiffer energy efficiency in the building codes, and the increased penalties against government officials who keep pollution matters quiet. 

I am convinced the Chinese government is quite serious about improving China's environment and it wants its people to know this.