Chapter 1

Global Environmental Issues and Human

Wellbeing

Environment is the foundation and support of human existence and survival and
the guarantee of sustainable human development; environmental protection has
undoubtedly become a common understanding and development strategy of all
countries of the world. Now humankind is striving into the historical process of
postindustrial society and is trying to reach rebalance with environment in later
stage of development. All countries need to perform respective duties and obliga-
tions in environment governance, in joint efforts to plan economic development,
social progresses and environment protection to realize mutual wins and sustainable
development of the world and to create an Earth homeland for harmonious co-
existence of humankind and environment.

1.1 Key Global Environmental Problems

1.1.1 Global Warming

Global warming refers to the phenomenon of gradual temperature rise of atmo-

sphere, soil, water and vegetative cover on Earth’s surface year by year, major cause
of which is “greenhouse effect” due to emission of such greenhouse gases (GHG)
as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). On one hand,
GHG absorbs the outward long-wave radiation emitted by Earth; it has no any resis-
tance against the inward shortwave radiation from the sun on the other, which causes
temperature rise in Earth surface and the lower atmosphere and results in global
warming. Among the GHGs, carbon dioxide makes over 50 % of contribution
to global warming. For a long period before the Industrial Revolution, the concen-
tration of carbon dioxide in atmosphere stabilized at 270–290 ppm. With the
accelerated industrialization and urbanization after the nineteenth century, CO2 con-
centration started the process of escalation at faster and faster speed. In 2007,
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the IPCC Fourth

L. Jianping et al. (eds.), Report on Global Environmental Competitiveness (2013), 3

Current Chinese Economic Report Series, DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-54678-5_1,
© The Author(s) 2014
4 1 Global Environmental Issues and Human Wellbeing

Table 1.1 Global greenhouse gas concentration 2010 and WHO-GAW global greenhouse gas trend
CO2 (ppm) CH4 (ppb) N2O (ppb)
Global abundance in 2010 389.0 1,808 323.2
2010 abundance in relative to year 1750 139 % 258 % 120 %
2009–2010 absolute increase 2.3 5 0.7
2009–2010 relative increase 0.59 % 0.28 % 0.25 %
Mean annual absolute increase during last 10 years 2.00 2.7 0.77
Source: WMO greenhouse gas bulletin 2010
Note: The figures for pre-industrialization are: 280 ppm for CO2, 700 ppb for CH4 and 270 ppb
for N2O

Assessment Report (AR4); it is pointed out that the CO2 volume fraction was
379 ppm in the year 2005, which has gone far beyond the scope of spontaneous
change in the past 650,000 years. In 2011, the annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin
released by World Meteorological Organization indicates that the greenhouse gas
abundance in global atmosphere in 2010 has made a new high in industrialized era.
Table 1.1 reflects the general situation of global greenhouse gases concentration and
the trends of change in the last decade. Since the Industrial Revolution, the average
air temperature of the globe has increased by about 0.7 °C and is increasing at the
speed of 0.2 °C every 10 years.1 Global warming will has far-reaching influence on
the world, such as polar glacier partial thawing, rise of sea level, submergence of
some foreland regions, etc.; global warming will cause precipitation change and
abnormal climate, damage to the ecosystem and droughts and floods, threaten
both the production and daily life of humankind and trigger diseases related to
heat wave.

1.1.2 Ozone Depletion and Destruction

Ozone depletion and destruction is caused by ozone-depleting substances, mainly

chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Ozone layer can absorb over 99 % of the UV ray from
solar radiation and thus protect the lives on Earth from UV injury as a natural
“Umbrella” of Earth. Since 1950s, ozone layer has showed trend of concentration
reduction found during observation and research. In 1974, Professor Rowland and
Dr. Molina from the University of California in USA published their paper
“Chlorofluorocarbons in Environment” and firstly put forward the causal relation
between CFCs emission and ozone depletion. In the 1980s, UK scientist found the
“ozone hole” over Antarctica, which was proved by the observation data from U.S.
satellite Nimbus-7. After that, Germany scientist again found similar ozone hole
over Arctic. With the full unfolding of ozone sounding and further findings in

1
HU An-gang, China: Innovation of Green Development [M]. Beijing: China Renmin University
Press, 2012. P82.
1.1 Key Global Environmental Problems 5

scientific research, phenomena of ozone layer depletion appear all over the globe.
As forecasted by the USEPA, if no restrictions are set on CFCs emission, by 2075
stratospheric ozone will decrease by 40 % compared with 1985. In that case, there
will be 150 million of skin cancer patients, 18 million of cataract patients, 7.5 % of
crop harvest decrease, 25 % of aquatic product loss and decline of human immuno-
logic function, which will bring about tremendous hazards. As ODS is very stabi-
lized that can live as long as 50–100 years, even if the globe absolutely stopped any
emission of ODS, it would take rather long time to see any restoration phenomena
on ozone layer. The Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion 2010 released by the
UN indicates that Earth’s atmospheric ozone layer has stopped depletion and will
gradually recover. In recent years, however, observational data showed that from the
actual indicators like ozone hole area, depth and time lapse, the atmospheric ozone
depletion over Antarctic is still severe. For instance, since 2000 the ozone hole over
Antarctic has maintained at high level of depletion in large area and the ozone hole
area has exceeded 25 million square kilometers in 2003, 2006 and 2008; especially
in 2008, the area has reached 27.2 million square kilometers, even larger than the
entire North America. In 2009, the size of ozone hole over Antarctic was still at the
level of the last few years. Therefore, it’s quite clear that the ozone depletion over
Antarctic does not stop and there will be a long way to go for the recovery of atmo-
spheric ozone layer.2

1.1.3 Sharp Decrease of Forest Cover

Forest is an important ecological resource having effects of air purification, adjust-

ing climate, water conservation, resisting wind and stabilizing sand, biological
diversity protection and promoting ecological stability. At the infancy of human
civilization, the virgin forest on the globe covered two thirds of the continent, reach-
ing 76 million km2; in the mid-nineteenth century, the covered area was 56 million
km2; by the end of twentieth century, the area was reduced to 34.4 million km2,
coverage falling to 27 %; and in 2003, the forest cover area was left as some 28 mil-
lion km2. It is obvious that since the Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth century,
the global forest cover has been seriously damaged. Figure 1.1 shows the forest
changes in world countries during 2005–2010, which tells that forest loss is rather
severe in regions like Oceania, South America and Africa. And, the latest report of
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) indicates that there
are 130,000 km2 of forest lost or converted into land for other purposes every year
during 2000–2010, while the decade before the period the magnitude has been
160,000 km2. Reduction of forest cover has brought about severe adverse impact on
the global ecosystem, causing water loss and soil erosion and land desertification,
damaging biological diversity, intensifying greenhouse effect and threatening the
sustainable development of human society.

2
WANG Geng-chen, Good News for Ozone Layer Protection [N]. The People’s Daily, 2010-10-26.
6 1 Global Environmental Issues and Human Wellbeing

Fig. 1.1 Net change in forest area by country, 2005–2010 (ha/year) (Picture via FAO)

1.1.4 Declining of Biological Diversity

Biodiversity includes genetic (biological genes) diversity, species diversity and

ecosystem diversity; it is the core component of Earth’s life-support system and the
material basis of human survival and development. However, in the past hundreds
of years, due to the adverse impact of human activity, species extinction rate has
been 1,000 times that of natural species extinction rate in history.3 Now there are
about 12 % of birds, 23 % of mammals and 25 % of conifers faced with the risk of
extinction.4 As UNEP forecasts, there will be 1/4 of biologic species on the earth
trapped in the danger of extinction for the forthcoming two or three decades; by
2050, about half of all animals and plants will disappear from the earth. In order to
protect biodiversity, the globe has been devoted to finding a roadmap for protection
of biodiversity since 2010 and the 10th Conference of Parties of the Convention on
Biological Diversity held in October 2010 in Japan approved the Strategic Plan for
Biodiversity 2011–2020, which established the goal of global biodiversity by 2020
and designed the roadmap and time schedule for global biodiversity protection.5

1.1.5 Acid Rain Pollution

The academic term of acid rain is acid deposition, mainly caused by emission of
acidoids into the atmosphere due to human activity, such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen
oxides, etc. During the period from 1950 to 1990, global sulfur dioxide emissions

3
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: Biodiversity Synthesis
[M]. Washington DC: World Resources Institute, 2005:3.
4
HU An-gang, China: Innovation of Green Development [M]. Beijing: China Renmin University
Press, 2012. P85.
5
XU Hai-gen, DING Hui, WU Jun, et al. Interpretation of the 2020 Global Biodiversity Targets
and Its Assessment Indicators [J]. Journal of Ecology and Rural Environment, 2012(1).
1.1 Key Global Environmental Problems 7

increased by 100 %, exceeding 150 million tons per year now and nitrogen oxides
emissions also arrived at about 100 million tons per year. The Scandinavian region
in North Europe, the European Continent and North America are the top three cen-
tral areas with severe acid rain pollution. Since the 1980s, acid rain pollution in
some Asian developing countries like India and China have become increasingly
severe too. In 1998, the area of acid rain region in China has covered over 30 % of
its territory and the total annual loss due to acid rain reached USD 13 billion. In
2005, China’s sulfur dioxide emissions reached as high as 25.49 million tons, rank-
ing first in the world. The major hazard of acid rain is damage to forest ecosystem
resulting in water and soil acidification, causing death of aquatic animals and plants,
reduction of crop production and erosion on buildings.

1.1.6 Land Desertification

Land desertification is also known as “land degradation”, meaning the degradation

of land in arid and semi-arid areas mainly due to climate change and irrational
human economic activities. Up to 1996, global area of land desertification has
reached 36 million km2, influencing 1/6 of world population from over 100 coun-
tries and regions. At present, there are still about 60,000 km2 of land becoming
desertification every year on the globe. Land desertification has caused severe
hazards, threatening human living environment, speeding up deterioration of eco-
logical environment and limiting socioeconomic development. The loss caused by
desertification in agricultural productivity only would be roughly as high as USD 42
billion. With the increasingly severe global land desertification as target, the United
Nations has launched the Decade for Deserts and the Fight against Desertification
2010–2020 on August 16, 2010, in the hope to further enhance global awareness of
the hazard by desertification and land degradation and meanwhile urging all coun-
tries to take effective steps to prevent land desertification.

1.1.7 Marine Pollution and Damage

Marine pollution and damage primarily refers to the pollution to marine environ-
ment and the damage to marine ecosystem due to over development of marine
resources. Major sources of marine pollution include sewage, pesticide, petroleum,
household garbage, industrial solid waste and certain heavy metals. The most
severely polluted sea areas are in Baltic Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Tokyo Bay,
New York Bay and Gulf of Mexico. “The largest accidental marine oil spill” hap-
pened in 2010 – Gulf of Mexico oil spill has caused 11 deaths, 5 million gallons of
oil spill and almost 1,500 km of ocean beach contaminated, resulting in thousands
of billion dollars of economic loss. Over development of marine resource is also
intensifying. Now there are globally 70 % of all oceanic life, including 77 % of
8 1 Global Environmental Issues and Human Wellbeing

fishes, encountering extreme or over development, which has big impact on the
fertility of the ocean and diversity of oceanic life. As indicated by the UNEP, with
the increasingly severe threaten on ocean from environmental pollution, heavy fish-
ing and climate change, global marine ecosystem will be facing the danger of col-
lapse in the few coming decades.

1.1.8 Water Pollution and Freshwater Resource Shortage

Water is the source of life, and one of the indispensable physical resources for the
survival and development of human society. Globally, the freshwater that can be
utilized by humankind only accounts for 0.325 % of the total water volume on
Earth. In company with the economic development and population growth, human
demand for water resource is also increasing, followed by freshwater resource
shortage because of water pollution problems. Discharge of household wastewa-
ter and industrial wastewater as well as surface runoff of agricultural pollutants
like fertilizer and pesticide, is the leading cause for water pollution. According to
the estimates of related international organizations, the population of countries
with water resource shortage will increase from 132 million in 1990 to 653 mil-
lion by 2025 (estimated as per low population growth) or 904 million (estimated
as per high population growth); by 2050 the figure will further amount to some-
thing between 1.06 billion and 2.43 billion, accounting for about 13–20 % of the
estimated world population.6 Lack of safe drinking water and sanitary facilities
has resulted in hundred million cases of disease related to water and at least
5,000,000 deaths every year.7 WHO’s investigation also indicates that 80 % of
human diseases are related to water pollution. Therefore, rational development
and utilization of water resources and strengthening water resource conservation
has become a priority.

1.1.9 Toxic Chemical Pollution and Cross-Border Transfer

of Dangerous Waste

There are about 35,000 types of chemicals on global market that are harmful to
human health and ecological environment, in which more than 500 types causes
cancer, teratogenesis and mutagenesis. Use of toxic chemical may lead to contami-
nation to the atmosphere, water mass, soil or even life to varying degrees. Dangerous
waste refers to those wastes carrying chemical activity or toxicity, explosiveness,

6
LIU Xiang-lian, PANG Zhen-je and ZHAO Rui-ping. Protection of Water Resources: Allowance
of No Delay [J]. Journal of Environmental Management College of China, 2005(2).
7
XU Zai-rong, Global Environmental Issues and International Response [M]. Beijing: China
Environmental Science Press, 2007. P47.
1.2 Influencing Factors of Global Environmental Issues 9

corrosivity and other properties that are harmful to human living environment, not
including radioactive waste. Currently the quantity of hazardous waste generated
globally every year is about 330 million tons. Because hazardous waste means
severe pollution and high disposal cost, developed countries are transferring haz-
ardous wastes to developing countries at the rate of 50 million tons per year to shift
the pollution.

1.2 Influencing Factors of Global Environmental Issues

1.2.1 Economic and System Influence

First and foremost, the traditional economic development pattern focusing solely on
economic growth is the immediate cause of environmental issues. History shows
that after the Industrial Revolution, countries like UK, USA and Germany have cre-
ated miracles of rapid economic development, but accompanied with the global
environmental issues that threaten human development. This is because the tradi-
tional economic development pattern focused more on the achievements made in
economic sphere with primary target at pursuit of growth in total output value and
economic profit and increase of material wealth. Under such traditional pattern,
people sacrificed resource consumption and environment damage in return for eco-
nomic growth, regardless of resource utilization efficiency; ecosystem is exposed to
destruction because of lack of rational resource development and utilization. On one
hand, development and utilization of renewable resources went beyond the limit of
regeneration rate of resources and even beyond the development level of their sub-
stitutes, with ever increasing consumption of non-renewable resources. On the other
hand, owing to weak awareness of ecological environment protection and pursuit of
economic interest maximization, low-cost production methods that are harmful
were adopted, having no regard for pollution-free technologies and scientific envi-
ronmental resource management. Such development pattern has directly led to
increasingly severe environmental problems worldwide. Just as Engels pointed out
in Dialectics of Nature, “Let us not, however, flatter ourselves overmuch on account
of our human victories over nature. For each such conquest takes its revenge on us.
Each of them, it is true, has in the first place the consequences on which we counted,
but in the second and third places it has quite different, unforeseen effects which
only too often cancel out the first.”8
Secondly, capitalist system in developed countries and the inequitable interna-
tional order under that system are the root causes for global environmental prob-
lems. Under capitalism, environment does not exist as a natural domain where
humankind must coexist with other species, but as a domain to be developed in the

8
Compilation and Translation Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. Marx and Engels
Gesamtausgabe (Vol. 20) [M]. Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1973: P519.
10 1 Global Environmental Issues and Human Wellbeing

ever expanding process of economy.9 Ecological socialists argue that capitalism

is the root cause for Western or even global ecological crisis and environmental
problems. The expansion of capitalism goes without limitation; the trends of infi-
nite accumulation of capital and the dominating logics of maximization of added
value implies impulsive consumption of earth’s resource and destruction of natu-
ral environment and has inherently decided the unsustainability of economic
development and the inevitability of ecological colonialism.10 With the formation
and development of world economic system, developed capitalist countries tried
to protect their vested interest through domination of the old international eco-
nomic and political order. The old international political and economic order is
typically reflected as environmental hegemonism and colonialism in environmen-
tal issues. The establishment and execution of rules regarding global environmen-
tal problems also focus on the interest of Western great powers with one standard
for the developed countries and another standard for the developing countries,
which excessively emphasizes that developing countries should undertake equal
responsibilities as developed countries in environment protection. As a matter of
fact, developed countries are the main responsible party of today’s global environ-
mental issues: first for the ecological cost of spoliation and expansion and diver-
sion during the 300 years of industrial civilization and secondly for the ecological
loss due to the global production and consumption in the past few decades.
Developed countries have controlled over 85 % of global resources with 15 % of
population, whereas more than 60 % of the consumer goods produced in devel-
oped countries especially in China are exported to developed countries. 95 % of
world’s toxic waste are generated in the 20 plus developed countries. Also, devel-
oped countries utilize their advantage in economic globalization to divert the eco-
logical and resource crises to developing countries.11 They have financial, technical
and management advantages in global environment governance, but unwilling to
undertake historical responsibility; instead, they try to maintain dominance of
global interest and future resource through dominant position in establishment of
international system and environmental negotiation, so as to increase the environ-
mental capacity limit for developing countries. Moreover, the commitment of
financial and technical support for developing countries is very often “shown
more by words and less by actions”. But developing countries are faced with dual
role in both economic development and environmental protection; it is rather
unpractical to solely emphasize their responsibility in environmental protection
while sacrificing the right to development. The old international environmental
order of the dominant leading powers not only can’t solve the global environmen-
tal problems, but also will further intensify the contradictions, leading governance

9
Fred Magdoff. On Capitalism and the Environment [J]. WU Xuan and LIU Ren (Translate).
Foreign Theoretical Trends, 2011(10).
10
YU Jin-yao. Capitalism and the Global Ecological Environment since Modern Era [J]. Academic
Research, 2009(6).
11
CHEN Liang. Changing International Political and Economic Pattern and Establishing New
Global Environmental Order [N]. China Environmental News, 2009-12-24.
1.2 Influencing Factors of Global Environmental Issues 11

Fig. 1.2 Years when world population reached increments of one billion (Source: State of World
Population 2011, UNPFA)

of global environmental issues into the predicament of benefit and policy

coordination. Therefore, although both developed countries and developing coun-
tries are aware of the importance of these issues and have established a global
environmental governance network with the UN as central and national govern-
ments and public society as participating, response to these issues is not yet really
based on the benefit of the entire humankind and no substantial steps are made in
global environmental governance. Only global environmental collaboration based
on mutual confidence can make ideal achievements.

1.2.2 Influence from Population and Society

First, the growing population has been a great pressure for the resource environ-
ment. Excessive growth of population in spite of ecological environment load-
bearing limitation is another important cause for global environmental problems. In
history, many scholars have already been aware of the causal relation between the
surplus of population and environmental crisis. A huge population size and higher
natural growth rate of population have brought about great pressure for global
resource environment. The demand and consumption of material goods by ever
growing population increasingly grow too, which will eventually exceed the capac-
ity of environment to supply resources and dispose wastes, leading to over taking
from nature and thereby resulting in various resource and environmental problems.
Since the nineteenth century, particularly after the twentieth century, the rapid growth
of population has triggered series of environmental problems, such air pollution,
scarcity of resource, piles of household garbage, etc. Figure 1.2 shows the trends of
12 1 Global Environmental Issues and Human Wellbeing

world population change. In 2011, world population has reached seven billion,
which posed a big challenge for global resource environment and should awake the
awareness of the entire humankind of the crisis in their living environment.
Secondly, environmental issues are also influenced by people’s awareness of the
natural world and changes of practice in the different times of human society. In the
primitive society when productivity is relatively low, population size was small and
human activities were mainly collection of natural food and hunting, environment
was less a problem. When human society entered agricultural civilization, produc-
tivity was improved, population size grew faster, people’s ability to reform nature
was strengthened, and development and utilization of resources like land, forest and
water increased; during this stage, environmental issues began deteriorating. During
the industrialized civilization period, science and technology made great strides,
productivity increased by a wide margin, and population expanded rapidly; human-
kind tried to conquer nature and started accumulation of material and wealth at the
cost of over development of resources and pollution of environment. These caused
intensification of contradiction between population and resource & environment
and deterioration of ecological environment threatens the existence and develop-
ment of humankind. Under such context of crisis, people became aware of the
severity of environmental issues and strived for harmonious development of both
humankind and nature with emphasized consideration of population and resource
and sustainable development of environment; thus human society may step into the
era of ecological civilization and the environmental problems could be controlled
and improved to certain degree.

1.2.3 Influence from Cultural Tradition

and Ethnic Consciousness

Cultural tradition and ideological consciousness show important influence on eco-

nomic development pattern and thus influence ecological environment. The cultural
tradition dominant in UK and USA and taking “individualism” as core value has put
individuals on the center society and history and emphasizes individual right to
pursuit of economic benefits; especially after the 1980s when neo-liberalism advo-
cated extreme individualism and highly liberalization became the main-stream ide-
ology worldwide, such value orientation undoubtedly got adapted to the need of
infinite extension of capital,12 but it also brought in destruction to ecological envi-
ronment. The US scholar Spretnak points out in his The Resurgence of the Real:
Body, Nature and Place in a Hypermodern World that ecological environmental
issues is a way to reflect the modern civilization crisis and argues that the modern-
istic egoism of economic man, the social order of industrialism, the hierarchal

12
HAN Yi. Cultural Tradition Influences Economic Development Pattern [N]. Chinese Social
Sciences Today, 2011-7-15.
1.2 Influencing Factors of Global Environmental Issues 13

arrangement under patriarchy, the centralized pattern of thinking as well as the

absolute anthropocentrism all together form a powerful anti-natural culture force
that leads to severe environmental pollution and ecological damage. An Australian
thinker Plumwood also believes the intrinsic logic relation between ecological cri-
sis, environmental pollution and the malady of modern civilization.13 The cultural
ethics that spares no sacrifice of ecological environment for egocentric purpose
makes global environmental protection consciousness generally weakened and
causes many environmental issues.

1.2.4 Influence from Alienation of Science and Technology

Advance of science and technology is double-edged sword that can not only ben-
efit humans and promote social development, but also be accompanied with envi-
ronmental problems that endangers the entire globe. The US scholar Commoner
and Capra argue that science and technology are the root cause of global environ-
mental problems. After investigation into the impacts of nuclear pollution, fertil-
izer, plastic material, synthetic fiber and automobiles on environment, Commoner
argues that the root cause of environmental problems is modern science and tech-
nology that not only brings about economic benefit but also destructs ecological
environment. In The Closing Circle: Nature, Man and Technology, Commoner
indicates that the facts seem apparent that the leading cause of crisis that swal-
lowed the American Environment is the unprecedented production technology ref-
ormation since World War II. Capra indicates in The Turning Point that pollution
of air, drinking water and food is only the distinct and direct manifestation of the
effects of human science and technology on natural environment, and the less dis-
tinct but perhaps much more dangerous effects have not been fully understood by
people so far. Science and technology has severely disturbed, or may be even
destructing the ecosystem that human survival depends on.14,15 Undoubtedly,
alienation of science and technology is one of the important cause for global envi-
ronmental issues, but not the root cause. However, we could see that some techno-
logical invention in the area of environmental protection could play a major role in
solving global environmental problems. Therefore, such alienation should be
avoided during the course of technological development, making science and tech-
nology to take positive effects and realizing unification of both technological
development and the development of human society.

13
LIU Jian-tao and JIA Feng-zi, Overview of Studies on the Root of Environmental Problems.
Frontier, 2012(1).
14
JI Zhen-hai, On Ecological Civilization [M]. Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2007: 81–82.
15
LIU Jian-tao and JIA Feng-zi, Overview of Studies on the Root of Environmental Problems.
Frontier, 2012(1).
14 1 Global Environmental Issues and Human Wellbeing

1.3 Global Ecological Environment and Human Wellbeing

Ecological environment provides various services for humankind through the process
of interaction and inter-constraint between economic and environmental system. Such
services are the gains from the economic-environmental system, including supply ser-
vice, regulation service, cultural service and support service (See Fig. 1.3). Supply
service refers to the various product resources obtained from ecological environment,
such as material resources like food, raw material, energy material, etc. and non-mate-
rial resources like biological inheritance. Regulation service refers to the gains from
regulating effect of ecological environment, such as maintenance of air quality, regulat-
ing climate and moisture, erosion control, water purification and waste disposal, human
diseases regulation and control, biological control, pollination and protection from
storm attacks. Cultural service means the non-material gains from ecological environ-
ment through intellectual life, development cognition, brain thinking, recreation &
entertainment and aesthetic enjoyment; it includes multiplicity of culture, spiritual
and religious value, knowledge system, educational value, source of inspiration, aes-
thetic value, social relation, sense of location, cultural heritage value, recreation, and

Natural Environmental Service Determinants and Elements of Human Wellbeing

Supply Service: various Primary material conditions

Support product resources obtained required for maintaining
Service: the from natural environment, hi-quality life: the ability to
indispensible such as material resources like obtain resources for earning
service food, raw material, energy income and livelihood.
required for material, etc. and non-material
production resources like biological Health: including provision of
of all other adequate nutrition and the

ecological Regulation Service: gains from natural environment good for

environmen the regulation process of natural health and state of mind.
tal services, environment. Freedom
Such as: air quality protection, Safety: the ability to obtain
such as &
climate and moisture regulation, clean and safe life arena as
nutrient Choice
erosion control, etc. well as to reduce the attack
cycle,
from ecological impact and
oxygen
threaten.
generation Cultural Service: non-material
and soil gains from natural environment. Good Social Relationship:
formation. Such as: cultural pluralism, including social cohesion,
spiritual and religious value, mutual respect, good sexual
knowledge system, educational relation and family ties as well
value, recreation and ecotourism. as the ability to help others
and foster children.

Fig. 1.3 Natural environmental service & its relationship with human wellbeing
1.3 Global Ecological Environment and Human Wellbeing 15

ecotourism. Support service refers to the indispensible service required for production
of all other ecological environmental services. Compared with the relatively direct
short-term effect of other services of ecological environment, this service’s effect on
humankind is either indirect or occurs in a very long period, such as nutrient cycle,
oxygen generation and soil formation.
Human wellbeing is a concept with complexity that is consisted of multiple ele-
ments and multiple ingredients, including the primary material conditions required
for maintaining high-quality life, freedom and choice, health, good social relations
as well as safety and security. The elements that constitute wellbeing are closely
related with surrounding environment and can reflect the status of local geography,
culture and ecology.16 As a matter of fact, ecological environment increases human
wellbeing through provision of supply, regulation, culture and support services, sat-
isfying human needs for material, health and safety; in a sense, it is indispensible for
human wellbeing (See Fig. 1.3). First of all, supply and regulation services have
strong tie with the primary material conditions required for maintaining high-quality
life by humans. For example, the food supplied by ecological environment is the
material basis for human survival, raw material and energy material are the basic
input for human production, while clean water resources are provided through like
purification service. Secondly, human health also has strong tie with the supply,
regulation and cultural services. For instance, the quality of food supplied by eco-
logical environment directed decides human health status; regulation service can
take effect on the dissemination of insect pests that transmit diseases and hence
indirectly influence human health; while cultural service provides benefits in the
recreation and spiritual life of humans and thus improves human health. Moreover,
safety is also affected by supply service, regulation service and cultural service.
Changes in supply service may affect provision of various materials, and, due to
decrease of resources, may possibly lead to conflict; changes in regulation service
will affect the laws, frequency and distribution of different types of natural disas-
ters; differences of ecological environment itself may also cause differences in reli-
gious ritual or spiritual nature, which will influence the relationship among the
different ethnic groups within the community. Thirdly, human social relationship is
mainly affected by the changes in cultural service: it may affect the character related
to human experience. Finally, freedom and choice are largely established on basis
of the other elements of human wellbeing and therefore also affected by changes in
ecological environment.
Ecological environment is nothing that never changes; there are many factors that
may directly or indirectly cause changes in ecological environment, its systematic
services and human wellbeing. Such natural or human factors which caused direct or
indirect changes in the ecological environment system are referred to as driving force.
Changes of ecological environment system services may be affected by multiple driv-
ing forces that have interactions in between; at the same time, the changes of ecologi-
cal environment system services will show feedback effects on the driving forces.

16
Millennium Ecosystem Evaluation Project Team. Ecosystem and Human Wellbeing: Evaluation
Framework [M]. Beijing: China Environmental Science Press, 2006: 11.
16 1 Global Environmental Issues and Human Wellbeing

Driving forces can be classified into different types according to different criteria.
According to the path by which various influencing factors take effect on ecological
environment, they can be classified into direct driving force and indirect driving
force. Direct driving force directly influence the course of ecological environment
and is the physical, chemical and biological driving forces for changes in ecological
environment and its services; we may identify and measure them by different accu-
racy. Direct driving forces include climate change, regional land utilization and land
coverage change, species introduction or elimination, technological improvement
and application, external input (such as fertilizer application, insect pest control,
irrigation, etc.), various natural, physical and biological driving forces (such as vol-
canic mountain), harvest and resource consumption. Indirect driving forces have
wider effects, often take effect by changing one or more direct driving forces; they
are the different kinds of signals stimulating decision making process and thus their
influence can be understood through how they affect the direct driving forces. Direct
and indirect driving forces often produce synergistic effect. Indirect driving forces
mainly include population driving force (such as population quantity, age and gen-
der structure, educational level, spatial distribution), economic driving force (such
as economic scale, structure of import and export), sociopolitical driving force
(such as democratization, status of private social organization, mechanism for solv-
ing international frictions), cultural and religious driving force (such as choice of
personal consumption concept), technological driving force (such as rate of invest-
ment in scientific research and development, rate of new technology adoption, sta-
tus of development in biotechnology).
According to if the various factors could be under the direct control of decision
makers, driving force can be classified into internal and external driving force.
Decision makers may change internal driving forces, but they can’t change external
forces; therefore, internal driving forces are under the direct control of decision
makers, but external driving forces are not under their control. Decision is generally
made via three levels of organization: local level (such as certain farmland or stand-
ing forest), regional level (municipal, provincial and national) and global level. The
same influencing factor may show changing controllability at different level and
different timeframe.17 Some of the influencing factors are exogenic and uncontrol-
lable for decision makers at local level, but turn to be endogenic and controllable at
regional level; for instance, national policies are uncontrollable for local govern-
ment, but controllable for central government. Similarly, some other influencing
factors are unchangeable and uncontrollable in short term, but changeable and con-
trollable in the long term, such as technology, which can hardly achieve break-
throughs in short term but can be always changing from the long run. This book
mainly addresses the driving forces at regional level. At this level, the internal driv-
ing forces of decision making generally include: various systems (such as property
right system), service and commodities’ price and market, technological innovation,

17
Millennium Ecosystem Evaluation Project Team. Ecosystem and Human Wellbeing: Evaluation
Framework [M]. Beijing: China Environmental Science Press, 2006: 91.
1.3 Global Ecological Environment and Human Wellbeing 17

different types of economic policies, etc. External driving forces include: changes
in land utilization and land coverage pattern, climate change, fundamental science
development, ecosystem features, etc.
There have been many causes for the declining of ecological environmental ser-
vices, some of them are natural and others are human, with the latter as major cause,
including economic growth, population change and excessive demand for services
of ecological environment system due to personal choice. The limitation of techno-
logical level and various institutional flaws are the root cause of excessive demand
for ecological environment system services. First, due to the limitation of techno-
logical level, people’s understanding of natural laws is far from sufficient, which
leads to formation of the outlook like unsustainable production and consumption;
but technological limitation means, on one hand, low efficiency of resource utiliza-
tion resulting in more resource service input to satisfy the same demand, and inad-
equate human ability to improve ecological environment system service, on the
other. Secondly, system factor causes low efficiency of resource service allocation,
which is another important reason for the declining of current ecological environ-
ment system services. Theoretically, perfect free market mechanism may guarantee
the services for ecological environment system services. But the fact is not neces-
sarily so. In fact, either there is no such market existing for certain ecological envi-
ronment system services, or, although the market is there, allocation of the system
services is biased due to market failure and policy failure.
Generally speaking, human intervention against natural system may enhance the
gains from ecological environment by human society. With necessary supports like
instrument, system, organization and technology and through sustainable good
interaction with ecological environment, humans can improve the level of their own
wellbeing. Among these, technological innovation and system insurance are the
most rooted measures to build up the service ability of ecological environment.
First, advancement in science and technology can make people better understand
natural laws and better know the interaction between ecological environment and
human economic society, and can help the formation of sustainable production
and consumption concepts by humans. Secondly, technological innovation can
increase the unit satisfaction efficiency of resource, minimize the resource con-
sumption for each unit of human welfare and thus increase the supply ability of
nature, which is favorable for sustainable utilization. Thirdly, technological innova-
tion can improve the structure and functions of ecological environment, hence
increase the supply ability of the system and promote sustainable development
of both environment and economic harmony. System innovation is the ultimate
guarantee for improving ecological environment for humans. Environmental service
can improve human wellbeing and therefore environmental resources are valuable.
Some of these services are traded in market and some are indirectly related to mar-
ket, but many environmental resource services do not have a market due to their
nature of externality and publicity or other causes, the so called market failure;
together with the other two even more ultimate causes of incomplete property
right system and government failure, environmental problems like environmental
18 1 Global Environmental Issues and Human Wellbeing

resource abuse, exhaustion and pollution have thus occurred.18 Therefore, to solve
these problems requires government sector to correctly understand the publicity
nature of environment, correctly assess the value of environmental resource, estab-
lish necessary system to promote internalization of external influence and imple-
ment correct policy to regulate people’s behavior, so as to realize coordinated
development of economy and environment.

1.4 Hard Exploration in Global Environmental Protection

Since the advent of humankind, she has established an inalienable close tie with
environment. As early as 5,000 years ago, especially after the start of human civili-
zation, the area coverage by human colonization has been continually widened with
the increase of population and progress of production technology, and environmen-
tal problems followed. Throughout the process of human development, the entire
history is actually a process during which humankind kept fighting against and got
adapted to environment. The Industrial Revolution of the UK occurred in the middle
of eighteenth century indicates the coming of an industrial society era; when indus-
trialization was providing the benefits of industrialized civilization and economic
growth for humans, series of important environmental problems worsened in com-
pany with industrial globalization. From the Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth
century to 1950, developed countries accounted for 95 % of CO2 emission. During
the 50 years from 1950 to 2000, emission by developed countries still took up 77 %
of world total. Once indicated by the General Assembly of the United Nations, “The
major cause of the continued deterioration of the global environment is the unsus-
tainable pattern of consumption and production, particularly in industrialized coun-
tries.” Especially after the 1940s when the unbalance between ecology and economy
in fields like resource, energy and environment became increasingly out-standing,
the issue of environmental protection began one of the biggest concerns of the pub-
lic. Researches on environmental issues also broke the geographic restriction of
nation or region, from catchwords to concrete course of action; certain organizations
of developed countries even launched “strong initiatives” for global environmental
protection. The representative ones include International Union for Conservation of
Nature (IUCN) founded in Switzerland in 1948 devoted to influencing, encouraging
and assisting social organizations of the world to protect the integrity and diversity
of nature and to realize sustainable development of ecology; World Wildlife Fund
(WWF) founded in 1961 that advocates protection of biodiversity, ensuring sustain-
able utilization of renewable natural resources and promoting reduction of pollution
and waste-type consumption and that has now established connections in more than
100 countries and completed over 10,000 environmental protection projects; Club
of Rome, the first social group established for the purpose of solving the ecological

18
XIAO Dai-ji, ZHENG Hui-yan, WU Pei-ying, QIAN Yu-lan, et al. A Cost-Benefit Analysis on
Environmental Protection [M]. Taiwan: Junjie Publishing Co., Ltd., 2002: 13–15.
1.4 Hard Exploration in Global Environmental Protection 19

dilemma in April 1968, which, through release of series report like The Limits to
Growth and The Global 2000 Report to the President, protested and criticized indus-
trial revolution that had led to severe ecological consequences; Greenpeace
International, established in 1971 in Canada with 43 branches in over 30 countries
now, aiming at realization of a more green, peaceful and sustainable future and
devoted to promoting government, corporation and the public to jointly seek solu-
tions to environmental problems and protect earth environment and world peace
through research, education and persuasion; and World Commission on Environment
and Development (WCED), established by the UN in 1983 to counter the economic
and social development consequences caused by deterioration of human environ-
ment and natural resources. In 1987, WCED submitted an initiative report Our
Common Future to UN General Assembly and firstly put forward the concept of
sustainable development. In addition to the above, there are Friends of the Earth
founded in 1983, Global Environment Facility (GEF) launched in 1991 and
International Environmental Protection Organization Association (IEPOA), all very
influential advocator and implementer of environmental protection throughout the
world and having made progressive contribution to the undertaking of global envi-
ronmental protection.
We should also see, however, these organizations are mostly advocated or estab-
lished by developed countries and initial participants are also developed countries;
only at a later stage did developing countries and underdeveloped countries absorbed
join in. But, standing on the moral highland of “Save the Homeland for Human
Beings”, some developed countries attempted to become the leader of global envi-
ronmental protection, control the “right to speak” and maintain the global suprem-
acy of developed countries. In recent years, Western developed countries led by
USA were unwilling to accept the bondage set by international climate “within the
system” and tried again to control the voice in the issue of global environment
change. With regard to issues concerning environmental protection rights and
responsibilities, there are many divergences between developed countries and
developing countries considering respective benefits. For instance, in all previous
climate summits, developed countries and developing countries have always show
divergence in key issues such as emission reduction goals, fund and technical sup-
port, and every round of negotiations has been very hard. Although the 17th con-
tracting parties conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change held in 2011 in Durban of South Africa reached an agreement on climate
and emission reduction, details like its legal effect, quantization of emission reduc-
tion indicator and time span were not finally decided; there is still a long, long way
to go to reach uniformly agreed global environmental protection action. Undoubtedly,
such fighting about environmental issues is essentially fighting about benefits. In
spite of the divergence and conflict within the group of developed countries, they
have common benefits in how to maintain the wide gap between them and develop-
ing countries and how to restrict emerging great powers from rising. Therefore, only
by mutual support and cooperation between all countries of the world with an eye
to the tied common benefit in global environmental protection can the divergence be
substantially removed and agreed actions be reached.
20 1 Global Environmental Issues and Human Wellbeing

1.5 Enhancing Environmental Protection

as a Common Understanding

Wide spread of environmental problems beyond national border and globe-wide

occurrence of environmental pollution have decided that the protection of environ-
ment is the common responsibility of the entire human beings, something not com-
pleted simply by the developed countries or individual organization; it requires full
participation of the vast developing countries and underdeveloped countries to
actively push the negotiations about international environment issues and carry out
global collaboration. Since the 1960s, in order to strengthen environmental protec-
tion, series of environment conference have been held all over the world, which
have approved series of environment declarations and environmental protection
conventions and reached comprehensive common understanding. Among these,
there are seven global environment conferences of significance deserve focal atten-
tion: (1) United Nations Conference on Human Environment held in 1972 in
Stockholm of Sweden, which passed Declaration of United Nations Conference on
Human Environment, for the first time put the issue of global environment before
the world and determined the “top-down” global environment governance pattern of
inter-national cooperation and coordinated actions inside and outside the UN system.
(2) United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in 1992 in
Rio de Janeiro of Brazil, which reached world’s first international covenant regarding
the issue of climate change for the purpose of overall control of emission of green-
house gases like CO2 and combating the adverse effects on human economy and
society due to global warming – United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change, and produced three documents of principle, including Rio Declaration on
Environment and Development, Agenda 21 and Statement of Forest Principles.
(3) The World Summit on Sustainable Development held in 2002 in Johannesburg
of South Africa, which released the Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable
Development and Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable
Development. (4) Bali Climate Change Conference 2007, which approved Bali
Roadmap, initiated the negotiation process for strengthening full implementation of
the Convention and Kyoto Protocol, and hammered at completing the first commit-
ment period of Kyoto Protocol by the end of 2009 and the negotiations about new
arrangement against global climate change in 2012 when the Protocol expires.
(5) Copenhagen Climate Change Conference 2009, which reached the Copenhagen
Agreement that maintained the principle of common but different responsibility
established in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and
Kyoto Protocol, made arrangement regarding compulsory emission reduction by
developed countries and voluntary mitigation by developing countries, and reached
wide common understanding on focal issues like global environment long-term
objectives, fund and technical support and transparency. (6) Durban Climate Change
Conference 2011, which established the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban
Platform for Enhanced Acton, decided implementation of the second commitment
period of Kyoto Protocol and launched framework cooperation agreement like
1.5 Enhancing Environmental Protection as a Common Understanding 21

Green Climate Fund. (7) Rio +20 Earth Summit held in 2012 in Rio de Janeiro of
Brazil, which proposed system framework for promotion of sustainable develop-
ment and concrete ways to realize it.
We could see that after years of hard negotiations and efforts of all countries, the
world has reached a common understanding with respect to global environmental
protection: social progress and economic development must be in coordination with
environmental protection and ecological equilibrium, to improve the standard and
quality of living for humans and promote the prosperity and thriving of entire human
society must be accomplished through global sustainable development. The exis-
tence of global environmental problems has their historical background and also the
reason of flaws in international system; a responsible attitude is not to blame each
other, but to positively cooperate with joint efforts. Therefore, to solve issues like
global ecological environment destruction and climate warming up, governments
must show wisdom and bravery to shatter the narrow concept bondage of national
interests and work towards international cooperation, collective security, common
benefit and rational negotiation. Only through mutual efforts of international
community can the sustainable development objectives be realized with harmony
between economic development on one side and population, resource and environ-
ment on the other. Global climate change, perhaps, will provide great prospect for
strengthened cooperation and mutual benefits for the entire international commu-
nity, though it also brings about potential crisis.

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