cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/36441283
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While China touts its ecological civilisation – a new system of development that stresses the harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature – at home, its voracious appetite for imported soy, beef, palm oil, and tropical timber has caused damage across some of the world’s most critical ecosystems. According to a recent Forest Trends report, China’s tropical deforestation footprint, linked to imports of high-risk agricultural and timber commodities, accounted for as much as five per cent of carbon emissions from tropical and subtropical deforestation during 2013–22.
The environmental consequences of these imports don’t stop at deforestation. They also carry a massive carbon price tag. China’s imported deforestation, led by trade with Brazil, Indonesia, and Malaysia, is responsible for as much as 200 million metric tons of CO2 per year. That’s equivalent to 20–30 per cent of China’s domestic agricultural emissions. Worse still, these embedded emissions are invisible in its nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, creating a glaring climate credibility gap.
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China’s role in driving deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon Basin is increasingly alarming. The region loses about 133 square kilometres of forest each year, equivalent to over 400 football fields daily, primarily due to agricultural expansion for beef and soybean production. These commodities feed global markets, with China being a dominant consumer. In 2022, 96 per cent of China’s soy imports originated from soy-producing regions linked to deforestation, compared to only 55 per cent for the European Union.
[China’s rising demand] threatens to reverse environmental progress in Brazil.
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Indonesia offers a stark, immediate example of ecological damage tied directly to China’s regional trade ambitions. While China boasts investments in clean energy and infrastructure through its Belt and Road Initiative, it is simultaneously driving forest destruction via its voracious demand for palm oil, pulpwood, and mining materials. A Traise Earth analysis found palm oil deforestation on Sumatra surged 3.7 times between 2020 and 2022, a spike fuelled in part by soaring Chinese demand and domestic consumption. The study also revealed China has overtaken the EU and India as Indonesia’s top palm oil buyer, snatching a growing share of exports.
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Moreover, the China strategy’s moral hazard sets a chilling precedent. If a country with the rich capacities and strong political influence of China can pursue a two-track environmental policy – green at home, grey abroad – why shouldn’t others follow suit? In an already stressed world, this dishonesty has the potential to lock us in a vicious cycle of hollow commitments and permanent ecological tipping points. It is greenwashing at a national level.
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