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Opinion | China’s Belt and Road Initiative may damage world’s oceans, or help save them

  • Construction of new ports, and expansion of existing ports, could lead to a loss of coastal marine habitat equivalent in size to 69,500 football fields
  • But despite the environmental concerns, the project also offers an opportunity to progress towards green targets such as the UNSDG

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The China-backed Gwadar port in Pakistan. Photo: Xinhua
China’s signature foreign policy, the Belt and Road Initiative, has garnered much attention and controversy. Many have voiced fears about how the huge infrastructure project might expand China’s military and political influence across the world. But the environmental damage potentially wrought by the project has received scant attention.
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The policy aims to connect China with Europe, East Africa and the rest of Asia, via a massive network of land and maritime routes. It includes building a series of deepwater ports, dubbed a “string of pearls”, to create secure and efficient sea transport.

All up, the cost of investments associated with the project have been estimated at as much as US$8 trillion. But what about the environmental cost?

Coastal development typically damages habitats and species on land and in the sea. So the belt and road may irreversibly damage the world’s oceans – but it also offers a chance to better protect them.

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Belt and Road Initiative explained

Belt and Road Initiative explained

CONTROVERSIAL DEALS

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