-- Launch of the 2006 Human Development Report
BEIJING, Nov. 14 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- China continues to make progress
in improving conditions of life as measured by the human development index
(HDI), according to the 2006 Human Development Report, released today in
Beijing. In the last three years alone, China's surpassed nearly 25 countries
in the HDI ranking to assume the 81st position among the 175 developing
countries listed.
(Logo: http://www.prnasia.com/sa/20061107113358-34.jpg )
Entitled Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis, the
Report notes that global progress on meeting the Millennium Development Goal
of halving the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe
drinking water is largely thanks to progress in China and India.
Yet challenges remain in securing a sustainable supply of clean water
throughout China, where national per capita levels of water are only a third
of the global average.
As climate change threatens to intensify pressure on China’s water
supply, it will directly affect the 538 million people living in China’s
already water-scarce North.
Progress and continued challenges in dealing with water sanitation and
pollution
The 2006 Human Development Report particularly highlights the advances
made by China in meeting the needs of its rural residents. “Now, provincial
and county governments oversee plans for meeting targets set by government.
Resources have been invested in developing and marketing sanitary latrines
designed for rural areas. Uptake has been impressive, with rural sanitation
coverage doubling in five years,” the Report says.
“China has made strong improvements in extending the availability of
water across the country, despite a large imbalance in natural distribution
between north and south, said Alessandra Tisot, UNDP Senior Deputy Resident
Representative in China, in opening the launch event. “The same goes for
improved sanitation. Extending rural access has been an important priority of
the government, and this has yielded impressive and laudable results.”
Yet despite dramatic advances in rural water sanitation, pollution caused
by China’s economic boom pose a continued risk to the country’s water-ways.
More than 70% of the water in the 3-H river system, is now too polluted for
human use, according to the State Environmental Protection Administration as
quoted in the Report.
China’s continued industrial expansion also brings higher risks of
industrial accidents like the one on the Songhua River one year ago. The
accident threatened not only the 3 million citizens of Harbin but also the
residents of the Russian city of Khabarovsk, says the Report, underlining the
need for international cooperation on issues of water safety.
The growing importance of water management in China
Northern China will face continued challenges in providing safe water for
its population. The 3-H basin of the Hai, Huai and Huang (Yellow) rivers
accounts for less than 8% of national water resources but supplies nearly
half of China’s population.
The Report emphasizes that the lack of access to clean water and
sanitation is above all a crisis for the poor. This is true also for China,
where about half the country’s rural poor live in the depleted 3-H river
basin area.
The urgency of sustainable water policy in Northern China is captured by
the transformation of the Yellow River. Once named China’s sorrow because
its high waters often caused flooding, the river’s flow has been reduced to
a trickle in its lower streams, which now barely reach the sea.
Current water shortages in China reflect that until recently water was
not priced, resulting in overconsumption. Pricing and demand management now
plays a growing role in water governance in China.
Global climate change is affecting Chinese farmers
Global warming raises serious concerns about the future volume and timing
of glacial flows, and may pose risks to China’s efforts to redistribute
water across the country.
The impacts of glacial melt, caused by global warming, may come to affect
as many as 300 million farmers in China’s arid western region. Almost all
glaciers in China have already shown substantial melting. In Tibet, glacial
retreat has meant that most glaciers could disappear by the year 2100, says
UNDP’s Human Development Report.
About this report:
The Human Development Report continues to frame debates on some of the
most pressing challenges facing humanity. It is an independent report
commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Kevin
Watkins is the Lead Author of the 2006 report, which includes special
contributions from U.K. Chancellor Gordon Brown, Nigeria’s Finance Minister
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, President Lula of Brazil, Former U.S. President Carter,
and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The Report is translated into more than
a dozen languages and launched in more than 100 countries annually. Further
information can be found at http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006 . The 2006 Human
Development Report is published in English by Palgrave Macmillan.
About UNDP:
UNDP is the UN's global network to help people meet their development
needs and build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working
as a trusted partner with governments, civil society and the private sector
to help them build their own solutions to global and national development
challenges. Further information can be found at http://www.undp.org .
UNDP fosters human development to empower women and men to build better
lives in China. As the UN’s development network, UNDP draws on a world of
experience to assist China in developing its own solutions to the country’s
development challenges. Through partnerships and innovation, UNDP works to
achieve the Millennium Development Goals and an equitable Xiao Kang society
by reducing poverty, strengthening the rule of law, promoting environmental
sustainability, and fighting HIV/AIDS. http://www.undp.org.cn .
