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Assessing environmental security in China
Author(s) -
Grumbine R Edward
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
frontiers in ecology and the environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.918
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1540-9309
pISSN - 1540-9295
DOI - 10.1890/130147
Subject(s) - urbanization , china , environmental degradation , food security , climate change , natural resource economics , environmental planning , business , environmental resource management , environmental security , adaptive capacity , energy security , economic growth , economics , environmental science , political science , ecology , agriculture , law , biology , renewable energy
In recent decades, perspectives on the integrated social–ecological aspects of natural resource problems have become increasingly influential as traditional national security outlooks have expanded to include environmental and human concerns. However, China has not been influenced much by new environmental security frameworks. An overview of six main stressors – ecosystem degradation, food security, energy, water, urbanization, and climate change – that affect security in China reveals that current policies need to be reformed. China's ecosystems remain subject to widespread degradation, food supply is under stress, energy demand is growing rapidly, there are increasing conflicts over water quality and quantity, urbanization cannot proceed without fundamental environmental and social reforms, and climate‐change impacts are projected to intensify. To resolve such security issues, China's leaders must depend less on technological solutions and should instead craft adaptive management reforms to address the lack of interdisciplinary problem‐solving, low institutional capacity, and gaps between policy and implementation.