China's BRI project causing significant environmental damage in South Asia: Report

European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS) recently reported that China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is causing significant environmental risks. China’s BRI promises to create opportunities for the South Asian states to facilitate a more sustainable growth model. However, EFSAS said that as South Asia is amongst the main regions likely to be hit severely by the negative environmental impact of climate change, the BRI, which was announced in 2013, will exacerbate these trends. 

While citing the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) report, EFSAS said that the environmental trends in South Asia generally correspond to the development trajectory, that causes pollution through growing industrialisation, which has become one of the key environmental characteristics of South Asia. The report noted that pollution has increased as a direct result of this rapid industrialisation. It added that air pollution is even more extreme in urban areas, with 91.2 per cent of the region's population living in areas that register pollution rates of 35mg/m3, making South Asian air some of the most polluted in the world. 

The EFSAS said that BRI, which is clearly a developmental project for industrial growth, is likely to further intensify environmental degradation. The foundation noted that for China, the construction of physical infrastructure has played a foundational role in the rapid economic development of the country. Therefore, it added the BRI exports this infrastructure-driven growth model, including to South Asia. 

EFSAS said, “Infrastructure investments are thus likely to exacerbate environmental issues if they are not sufficiently regulated and focused on utilising renewable forms of energy consumption”. 

It added, “South Asian countries once again find themselves at the crossroads of having to choose between some of the short-term economic benefits potentially produced by the BRI and the long-term negative ecological and, ultimately, economic impacts this investment will likely have”. 

China’s Belt and Road Initiative 

Meanwhile, it is worth noting that BRI was launched by President Xi Jinping when he came to power in 2013. Jinping mooted the idea to revive the ancient Silk route and termed it as One Belt One Road (OBOR). It aims to link Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and Europe with a network of land and sea routes. The OBOR initiative was later named the Belt and Road Initiative.

(With inputs from ANI)