China: going for the gold, silver, bronze ... green?

In addition to the EEI, several nongovernmental organizations (NGO's) are increasingly important in promoting a "green culture" of environmental protection and awareness. The most active of these include the Green China Foundation, Friends of Nature, Environmental Education Television Project for China, China Wildlife Conservation Association, and China Environmental Protection Foundation (China Daily, 2000b). The NGO's help transfer information among their members, other Chinese citizens, and government officials as well as help educate the Chinese people about the need for environmental protection and about ways to change consumption patterns to protect the environment (including even small things such as not using disposable wooden chopsticks to protect trees). Changes in consumption patterns are essential in a country that generates an estimated 155 million tons of urban waste per year (Chen, 2000c).

Businesses in China are being made more aware of the need for environmental management of their operations. For example, an International Seminar on Implementation and Development of ISO 14000 was organized in 1999 by SEPA and sponsored by the Mobil China Group. Implementation of the ISO 14000 standards on environmental management systems is being increasingly adopted by businesses within the country. The ISO 14000 program is being touted to organizations as a way to reduce costs, improve managerial efficiency, raise product quality, and expand exports, all of which will contribute to increased profitability. The Dalian, Suzhou, Shanghai, and Wuzi economic development zones have even been named Certified National Demonstration Districts of ISO 14000 (Li, 2000).

Conclusion

Although efforts to educate children, adults, and businesses are on the rise, China cannot yet be viewed as a role model for environmental proactiveness. For example, approximately 71% of Chinese citizens' and business' energy needs are still met by coal usage, a recognized anathema to the concept of sustainable development (Holland, 2000). The country is engaged in environmentally detrimental projects such as the Three Gorges Dam that will, it is estimated, submerge many cities, towns, and villages, as well as archeological sites dating back 15,000 years (Salazar, 2000). Fines for environmental pollution have often been lower than the cost of operating pollution control equipment (Fairley, 1998).

There are numerous ways of fostering environmental protection and its extension, sustainable development. Although not even close to the theoretical level of achievement suggested by Raiborn and Payne (1990) and by Payne and Raiborn (2001), China's current initiatives show that the country is, in fact, making substantial progress. The country's citizens, businesses, and government are attempting to engage in many of the activities necessary for promoting societal change that have been suggested in the literature and that have been enacted by sustainable development activists. As suggested by Milbrath (1995), the country has recognized the need for sustainable development and has set about informing the public about the related issues. These activities have resulted in changing attitudes created from increased recognition and education. This will set the stage for a deep-rooted cultural change within the country as suggested by Barcena and Payne (1995). Such a change should be expected to promote an atmosphere of learning, caring, and working toward improving the environment.

It is not clear what role economic growth will or should play in China's move toward sustainable development. What is clear is that economic growth will continue to be a major goal of China as well as other developing countries. Although some individuals/entities may pit economic growth against environmental responsibility for short periods of time, the two cannot be mutually exclusive because of the need to provide decent living conditions for the general population. Economic growth is necessary to raise living standards for the poorest, as well as the richest, in China. Therefore, for the foreseeable future, economic growth and sustainable development will, and should be, irrevocably bound partners.

China's efforts to become an environmental winner will not be as easily achieved as its efforts to become an Olympic winner. But some of the same traits are needed for both: desire, dedication, and diligence. The Chinese government appears in a word to have embraced these traits and to have laid out a game plan to achieve results. If the government can also embrace these traits indeed, the results will be achieved. In such a case, the new rallying cry for China may be "Go for the green!"

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Cecily Raiborn

McCoy Endowed Chair in Accounting

Texas University-San Marcos, Texas

Brenda Joyner

Associate Dean/MBA Director

Associate Professor of Management

Loyola University New Orleans, New Orleans