World Environment Day Special: Why did China, the biggest polluter, become the world’s largest tree planting country?

It may sound a bit strange that the country which is infamous for spreading the most pollution in the whole world, is the same country which has been busy planting trees like crazy for the last few decades. We are talking about China. Today, China is considered to be the world’s largest carbon emitter, that is, it releases the highest amount of carbon dioxide into the air. But there is another and very positive side to this bitter truth. China is launching the world’s largest tree-planting campaign to halt rampant desertification, conserve soil and improve its air. Today, on the occasion of ‘World Environment Day’ (June 5), let us understand this puzzle a little deeper as to why this country, which is pushing the world into the quagmire of pollution, is making such a huge investment to make itself green. How did China become the world’s biggest polluter? If we look at the data, around the year 2006, China had left America behind in terms of total carbon dioxide emissions. After this it became the world’s largest annual carbon emitter. Internationally, China is considered the biggest polluter mainly on the basis of its total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The reason behind China’s condition was its policies for many decades, under which it chose the path of becoming the ‘World’s Factory’. Cheap labour, huge factories and indiscriminate exports made China an economic superpower, but completely destroyed the environment there. There were mainly 4 major reasons behind this: Excessive dependence on coal: China relied the most on the cheapest and dirtiest fuel i.e. coal to run its factories round the clock. Rapid Industrialization: The network of heavy industries like steel, cement, chemical and construction expanded very rapidly, which emit huge amounts of poisonous smoke. Flood of urbanization: Crores of people moved out of villages and settled in cities, due to which the demand for new roads, vehicles and electricity increased manifold. Meeting the needs of the world: A large part of the pollution that China is spreading is related to making goods that are used by other countries like India, America and Europe. Then why suddenly China started planting the most trees? After this massive environmental destruction, China realized that if nature is not saved, this economic progress will not last long. China started an organized national campaign in 1978, under which more than 66 billion trees have been planted so far. Due to this, new greenery has returned in about 3.2 crore hectare area. China has given some very solid diplomatic and geographical reasons behind its campaign: Stopping the spread of the desert: The spread of the Gobi Desert in the northern and western areas of China has been a huge crisis. The dust storms rising from there reached the capital Beijing and brought life to a standstill. To stop this, China decided to build a huge wall of trees. Farming and saving the soil: Due to cutting of forests, soil erosion was increasing rapidly, due to which there was a risk of floods and fertile land was becoming barren. China reforested its forests to strengthen its food security. Improving Global Image (Climate Politics): China has been accused across the world of damaging the planet in the name of development. In such a situation, by planting trees on a large scale, he wants to show the world that he is serious about the environment. Understand China’s afforestation journey at a glance: Will the environmental crisis be averted just by planting trees? The root of the real problem is something else. Environmental experts believe that planting trees is a very commendable step, but it is not a magical cure for pollution. If on one hand a country continues to burn coal, promote heavy industries and on the other hand only plants trees, then its overall impact is very limited. Trees definitely help in improving the environment, but they cannot eliminate the real root of pollution i.e. dependence on fossil fuels. Why is this model of China important for us? This story of China teaches two things to the whole world simultaneously. The first is that if you ignore nature and just run after factories and money, the environment will punish you terribly. Secondly, when the crisis comes to a head, even the biggest polluting country can move on the path of reform with full willpower. Today China is not only planting trees, but it is also leading the world in the market of solar energy, wind energy and electric vehicles (EVs). It is also the biggest part of the pollution problem, and now wants to become a main means of solution.