Local authorities' reckless pursuit of growth stands in the way of Beijing's pledge to pursue more balanced development, senior environmental officials warned yesterday.
'If the country continues with its energy-intensive growth path, with high consumption of resources and high emissions of pollution, the pressure on environmental protection looks set to grow even heavier,' Deputh Environment Minister Zhang Lijun said.
The central government has vowed to reduce pollution and tap renewable energy sources, but Zhang said coal consumption, which has increased by 1 billion tonnes in the past five years, would see another big jump of about 1 billion tonnes by 2015.
'You can imagine, how much impact it will have on our environment if [carbon] emissions from the increased 1 billion tonnes of coal are to be counted,' he said yesterday at a briefing on the sidelines of annual gathering of the National People's Congress.
Coal remains the biggest energy source for the mainland economy, accounting for nearly 70 per cent of its primary energy consumption.
China has come under mounting pressure over its reliance on coal, the single largest source of its world-leading emissions as well as one of the main culprits behind widespread environmental degradation.
Rapid economic development, which remains the government's top priority, has posed a dilemma for the leadership because of its appalling environmental costs and the heavy human toll from the severe pollution problems.