Question

Once a pinnacle of luxury clothing found only in high-end fashion stores, by 2006 cashmere sweaters, which typically sold for hundreds of dollars, could be found in big box stores for as little as $20. The reason for this substantial price drop: increased production and competition from China. The cashmere industry has been around for centuries. Historically, however, Chinese and Mongolian herders exported the raw fiber to Europe, where it was spun and converted into clothing. Beginning in the 1980’s, China made a charge toward industrialization and the market economy. One area of rapid growth was the textile industry.

To increase production of cashmere wool, the number of wool-producing goats in Inner Mongolia, home to a vast grassland that the animals can graze on, increased tenfold, from 2.4 million in 1949 to 25.8 million in 2004. This dramatically increased the production of cashmere in China, but not without its consequences. One of the biggest problems, however, is that goats are devastating to the topsoil. The combination of pointy hooves and a voracious appetite leads to a rise in desertification. That is, turning grassland to desert. Over a 5-year period, “the Gobi Desert expanded in size by an area larger than the Netherlands.”

A consequence of this desertification is an increase in dust storms. Over the last several decades, the number and size of dust storms originating in China has grown dramatically. These storms impose a tremendous external cost on the regions through which they travel. One storm, “forced 1.8 million South Koreans to seek medical help and cost the country $7.8 billion in damage to industries such as airlines and semiconductors.” Another storm was so large it traveled around the entire world, causing damage in the US, Europe, and Africa.

1. There are several methods for reducing the costs of negative externalities. Why might some of these be difficult to implement at the global level? and what policies could the Chinese government implement to prevent the Tragedy of the Commons outcome of desertification?

Answer 1

INTRODUCTION

Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become increasingly more arid.It is the spread of arid areas caused by a variety of factors, such as through climate change (particularly the current global warming⁾ and through the overexploitation of soil through human activity.

Throughout geological history, the development of deserts has occurred naturally; however, when deserts emerge due to unchecked depletion of nutrients in soil that are essential for it to remain arable, then a virtual "soil death" can be spoken of, which traces its cause back to human overexploitation. Desertification is a significant global ecological and environmental problem with far-reaching socio-economic and political consequences.

China’s Law of Prevention and Control of Desertification is the world’s first integrated law dedicated to combating desertification. It provides a legal framework to support the implementation of China’s National Action Programme to Combat Desertification and a host of projects aimed at rehabilitating and revegetating land at risk, from the vast Three-North Shelterbelt “Great Green Wall” Programme to local tree planting initiatives. For its impressive achievements in reversing the trend of desertification, China’s Law was recognised with the Future Policy Silver Award 2017, awarded by the World Future Council in partnership with the UNCCD.

New World Atlas of Desertification shows unprecedented pressure on the planet's natural resources

On 21 June 2018, the JRC published a new edition of the World Atlas of Desertification, offering a tool for decision makers to improve local responses to soil loss and land degradation.

The Atlas provides the first comprehensive, evidence-based assessment of land degradation at a global level and highlights the urgency to adopt corrective measures

The main findings show that population growth and changes in our consumption patterns put unprecedented pressure on the planet's natural resources:

• Over 75% of the Earth's land area is already degraded, and over 90% could become degraded by 2050.
• Globally, a total area half of the size of the European Union (4.18 million km²) is degraded annually, with Africa and Asia being the most affected.
• The economic cost of soil degradation for the EU is estimated to be in the order of tens of billions of euros annually.
• Land degradation and climate change are estimated to lead to a reduction of global crop yields by about 10% by 2050. Most of this will occur in India, China and sub-Saharan Africa, where land degradation could halve crop production.
• As a consequence of accelerated deforestation it will become more difficult to mitigate the effects of climate change
• By 2050, up to 700 million people are estimated to have been displaced due to issues linked to scarce land resources. The figure could reach up to 10 billion by the end of this century.

While land degradation is a global problem, it takes place locally and requires local solutions. Greater commitment and more effective cooperation at the local level are necessary to stop land degradation and loss of biodiversity.

Policies the Chinese government implemented to prevent the Tragedy of the Commons outcome of desertification

Law of the People’s Republic of China on Prevention and Control of Desertification, 2002

China’s Law of Prevention and Control of Desertification was adopted in August 2001 and entered into force on 1 January 2002. It is the world’s first integrated law dedicated to combating desertification and sets out a legal framework for the application of China’s National Action Programme to Combat Desertification, and an array of activities aimed at rehabilitating degraded land, from the immense Great Green Wall initiative to local tree planting projects.

The Law fortified China’s efforts to address this very serious challenge and has helped enable the country to reverse the expansive trend of desertification over the last 15 years. In June 2017, the Government announced that the area of desertified land in China shrank by an average of 1,980 km² per year in the 2010-2014 period, which is impressive.

China is also a fully committed party to many international and regional initiatives aimed at fighting desertification and land degradation, including a major new partnership to rehabilitate the Silk Road, and has pledged to meet the Land Degradation Neutrality target.

Whilst some concerns exist around the impacts of ecological migration, this policy is a clear example of a strong law that supports effective nationwide efforts to fight desertification by a wide range of stakeholders, for which it was awarded the Future Policy Silver Award in 2017.

OBJECTIVE

The stated purpose of the Law is to: “(Article 1) prevent land desertification, rehabilitate desertified land, maintain eco-safety, and promote sustainable economic and social development. (Article 2) All activities for prevention of land desertification and for rehabilitation and exploitation of desertified land in the territory of the People’s Republic of China shall be conducted in accordance with this Law.”

The objectives outlined in the National Action Programme, which this Law supports, are:

• 2000-2010 – 22,000,000 ha desertified land controlled, 1,700,000 ha forest shelterbelt system established, and 3,720,000 ha aeolian desertification land enclosed for protection, to prevent human-induced new desertification, contain the expansion trend of desertification, and make improvements in key controlled areas.
• 2011-2020 – 20,000,000 ha desertified land will be controlled, 1,200,000 ha forest shelterbelt system will be established, 11,000,000 ha sandy land will be enclosed for forest and grassland regeneration. The focus will be on improving the ecological shelter belt systems.
• 2020-2050 – 35,000,000 ha desertified land will be harnessed, 34,000,000 ha forest and grassland will be established, 1,800,000 ha forest shelterbelt system will be established, 19,000,000 ha sandy land will be enclosed for forest and grassland regeneration, over 50 per cent of controllable desertified land will be brought under control.

According to China’s 2014 report to UNCCD, the targets for desertified land rehabilitation are: 50% reclaimable desertified land to be rehabilitated by 2020, all reclaimable desertified land to be rehabilitated by 2050.