China’s Big Problem - Water

Is pollution the most important environmental issue facing China? Is it China’s insatiable demand for energy or minerals? Possibly. However, as this discussion suggests, the answer is probably water.

In the past half-century, China has lost half its rivers. Today, much of China's water is wasted or polluted. In response, China's leadership have focused on trying to increase water supply, investing billions into gargantuan engineering projects to solve its crisis. Much less has been done on the demand side - water is still very cheap in China and little is done to recycle water or penalise water polluters.

The video from The Economist features an excellent analysis of the water problem in China including discussion of potential policy solutions.