China’s mega plan could devastate the world’s oceans or help save them

OPINION: China’s signature foreign policy, the Belt and Road Initiative, has attracted much attention and controversy.

Many have voiced their fears about how the massive infrastructure project could expand China’s military and political influence around the world. But the environmental damage potentially caused by the project has received little attention.

The policy aims to connect China with Europe, East Africa and the rest of Asia through a massive network of land and sea routes. It includes the construction of a series of deep-water ports, called “pearl necklace,” to create safe and efficient shipping.

In total, the cost of investments associated with the project has been estimated at up to US $ 8 billion (NZ $ 12 billion). But what about the environmental cost?

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Coastal development often damages terrestrial and marine habitats and species. Thus, the Belt and Road plan may irreversibly harm the world’s oceans, but it also offers the opportunity to better protect them.

Controversial offers

Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the Belt and Road initiative in 2013. Since then, China has already helped build and operate at least 42 ports in 34 countries, including Greece, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. As of October this year, 138 countries had signed the plan.

The Victorian government joined in 2018, in a move that sparked political controversy. Those tensions have escalated in recent weeks, as the federal government’s relationship with China deteriorates.

Victoria’s Prime Minister Daniel Andrews recently reiterated his commitment to the deal, saying: “I think a strong relationship and strong partnership with China is very, very important.”

However, political leaders who adhere to the Belt and Road plan must also consider the potential environmental consequences of the project.

Bigger ports and more ships

In addition to ports, the Belt and Road plan includes roads, railways, dams, airfields, pipelines, cargo centers, and telecommunications systems. Our research has specifically focused on the development and expansion of the planned port and increasing maritime traffic. We examined how it would affect coastal habitats (such as seagrasses, mangroves, and salt marshes), coral reefs, and threatened marine species.

Port construction can affect species and habitats in a number of ways. For example, site development often requires clearing of mangroves and other coastal habitats. This can harm animals and release carbon stored by these productive ecosystems, accelerating climate change. Clearing coastal vegetation can also increase runoff from land pollution to coastal waters.

Ongoing dredging to maintain shipping channels removes sediment from the seabed. This sediment suffocates sensitive habitats like seagrasses and corals and damages wildlife, including the fish species that many coastal communities depend on.

An increase in maritime traffic associated with the expansion of trade increases the risk of ships hitting animals directly. More ships also means an increased risk of maritime accidents, such as the Mauritius oil spill in July this year.

Ocean habitat destroyed

Our spatial analysis found that the construction of new ports and the expansion of existing ports could lead to a loss of coastal marine habitat equivalent in size to 69,500 football fields.

These impacts were proportionally higher in small countries with relatively small coastal areas – places like Singapore, Togo, Djibouti and Malta – where a considerable part of the coastal marine habitat could be degraded or destroyed.

Habitat loss is of particular concern for small nations where local livelihoods depend on coastal habitats. For example, mangroves, coral reefs, and seagrasses protect coasts from storm surges and rising sea levels, and provide a nursery habitat for fish and other marine life.

Our analysis also found that more than 400 threatened species, including mammals, could be affected by port infrastructure. More than 200 of them are at risk of increasing maritime traffic and noise pollution from ships. This sound can travel many kilometers and affect the mating, lactation and feeding of species such as dolphins, manatees and whales.

But there are also opportunities

Despite these environmental concerns, the Belt and Road initiative also offers an opportunity to improve biodiversity conservation and advance towards environmental goals such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

For example, China could implement a comprehensive and consistent environmental framework that ensures that individual infrastructure projects are held to the same high standards.

In Australia, legislation helps prevent damage to wildlife from port activities. For example, slow-moving zones minimize the likelihood of boats hitting iconic wildlife like turtles and dugongs. Likewise, the protocols for the transport, handling and export of mineral concentrates and other potentially dangerous materials minimize the risk of pollutants entering the waterways.

The Belt and Road initiative should require similar environmental protections in all of its partner countries and provide funding to ensure they are enacted.

China has recently tried to push its environmental credentials on the world stage, for example by adopting a net zero carbon emissions target by 2060. The global nature of the Belt and Road initiative means that China is in a unique position: it can cause damage or become an international leader in environmental protection.

Mischa Turschwell is a researcher at Griffith UniversityChristopher Brown is Senior Lecturer in the School of Environment and Sciences, Griffith Universityand Ryan M. Pearson is a researcher at Griffith University.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.