China's Drive for Global Resources

The Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies published on 28 March 2017 a commentary titled "The Dark Legacy of China's Drive for Global Resources" by William Laurance, James Cook University in Australia.

The author concludes that China is currently having an overwhelming impact on the earth's environment. China is involved in resource extraction, energy, agricultural, and infrastructure projects--roads, railroads, hydropower dams, mines--that are wreaking unprecedented damage to ecosystems and biodiversity. At the same time, China is engaged in green activities, such as investing heavily in solar and wind energy, cracking down on its notorious air pollution, and replanting millions of acres of its denuded lands. Many of the examples cited by the author are in Africa.