By Saksham Kotiya
Edited by Nandita Singh, Senior Editor, The Indian Economist
The research paper was authored by Bill Kirby who is the professor of Harvard Business School.
Bill Kirby discusses how an historic international accord on reducing environmental emissions might signal a greener future for the world’s most populous nation. This paper was published by Harvard Business School. The Great Wall of China is regarded as the one of the greatest monuments of the world, which was opposite to the economic condition of China in the early 90s. In 1949, the Chinese economy suffered from debilitating effects of warfare. At the end of the war with Japan in?1945, Soviet troops had dismantled about half the machinery in the major industrial areas of the northeast and shipped it to the Soviet Union. China was facing an economic crisis. The main goal of the Chinese Government was to restore its economic condition back to normal between 1949 -1951. The banking system was nationalized and centralized under the People’s Bank of China. The chief policy of the Chinese Government was to nationalize the banks and provide and multiply the wealth of its residents. The first five-year plan was planned between 1953 and 1957. Until the 1980s, Chinese plans were formulated under the control of the administration. The reform program reduced the role of central planning. Gradually the Chinese economy became strong and it is now heading towards becoming the worlds greatest superpower. The research paper authored by Bill Kirby says that China’s economy enjoyed a sustained growth rate of 10 percent between 1979 and 2010. International Monetary Fund projects that it will overtake the United States as the world’s largest economy by the end of 2014. Between 70 and 90 percent of the country’s flora, for example, was endangered by 2008, and by 2013, around 80 percent of its major rivers were so degraded that they no longer supported aquatic life.
Thousands of years of environmental degradation have put more strain on a finite amount of land than any other place on earth.
“China has the longest political and cultural tradition in the world of seeking to master and tame the environment for human purposes,” Kirby said in a recent interview in his Morgan Hall office. Kirby considers it news of great significance that two of the worlds largest CO2 emitters have joined hands to minimize their carbon emissions in the next 10 years. It has happened for the first time in world history that America and China have joined hands in an effort to save the environment against the pollution caused by CO2 emissions. However, this step by China will not be an easy one, because in order to effectively implement it, the nation will have to make drastic changes in entrenched governmental, industrial, and even cultural structures and norms. Kirby believes that the key to lasting leadership includes discipline and serious commitment towards staffing and enforcing environmental oversight and regulation, as well as compensation and promotion structures for local and state officials that prioritize environmental improvement. The government is also aiming to crack down on smoking, as according to statistical data, lung cancer increased by almost 500 percent in China between 1980 and 2010. Kirby points out, the question for China is: what kind of country do you hand over to your children? What kind of legacy will you leave? Nowhere in the world, maybe other than India, is the population situation as severe as it is in China, and therefore, it is in the hands of the Chinese government as to how and to what extent it will take its policies seriously. The economic growth and the environmental development must go hand in hand with environmental sustainability; otherwise China may fall once again in terms of its economy.
Saksham Kotiya is an enthusiastic person who wishes to push himself in the field of writing as well as business. I have had the experience of writing earlier also and was an athlete too. I am glad to be a part of your team where I can portray my writing skills. I will complete my articles on time. I keep on trying different fields of work and aim to author a book someday.