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"Why should I support Green Steps' campaign?"

Environment

Author:

Green Steps

Short summary:

Our crowdfunding campaign aims to establish 10 Nature Learning Centers in sub-urban and rural China: it is the first step to achieve our global vision and we believe that everybody should care. No solution to climate crisis is possible without China.

no solution to climate crisis is possible without china

All climate change mitigation measures implemented by the Western world will not bring about the needed impact to avoid runaway climate change if China does not join forces. The Chinese society needs to be integrated and aligned to global efforts and Chinese consumers need to make a great leap forward in regard to system awareness and respect for the environment. There are several indicators which underline this challenge:
All climate change mitigation measures implemented by the Western world will not bring about the needed impact to avoid runaway climate change if China does not join forces. The Chinese society needs to be integrated and aligned to global efforts and Chinese consumers need to make a great leap forward in regard to system awareness and respect for the environment. Several indicators underline this challenge:

1. China is the most populated country on this planet

China is the most populated country on this planet and its citizens have over the last four decades increased their consumption exponentially. Therefore, China has turned into the single most important country which needs to implement climate change mitigation measures;

2. china is the biggest producer of CO2

China has overtaken in 2007 the United States as the world's biggest producer of carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas;

3. half of worldwide plastic pollution is attributable to china

The Yangtze river alone is responsible for 1,5 Million metric tons of plastic in the ocean, which is almost half on the worldwide plastic pollution through rivers. Five of the 10 most plastic polluting rivers are in China. Better waste collection and management practices in the most polluted regions would help stem the tide, but raising public awareness is also crucial.

4. more than 1/4 of world's meat is consumed in china

One of the main drivers of climate change is the extra proportionally high meat consumption. It is a fact that eating more meat generates more heat. China consumes more than a quarter of the world’s meat and farms e.g. half of the world’s pig life stock.

5. intensive farming in china is a global threat

Moreover, there might even be a connection between the recent corona virus outbreak, and life stock farming. A swine fever pandemic forced the Chinese government to cull in 2019 up to 60% of its 200 million pig life stock – which is half of the world’s. This animal genocide went largely unnoticed by the general public, because media reporting was mostly limited to the life stock industry.

6. china is like us. In 1980

China’s environmental education - due to a delayed industrial revolution - is in a very early stage, probably comparable to 1980s Western Europe. Waste separation laws have only recently been implemented in first tier cities like Shanghai and it is not expected that consumption behavior or waste volumes will change significantly over the next decade.

7. CIVIL ACTION IS NOT A THING (YET) IN CHINA. and we cannot wait for it

Western civil society answers to urbanization and nature disconnection like the Boy Scouts of America or the German allotment garden movement are either not allowed or only just in a formation period.

8. china urbanization has a snowball effect on climate crisis

Chinese economic development policies foresee more urbanization which will lead to further nature disconnection and more consumption. The country’s leadership sees urbanization as a way to maintain growth and counter an economic slowdown by boosting the number of consumers, as urban residents have been shown to purchase significantly more goods and services than their counterparts in the countryside. Despite the economic benefits, a rise in the urban consuming class could exacerbate China's environmental problems. According to a World Bank study, China's urban residents use three times as much energy as rural residents.

China's growing role in driving man-made global warming piles pressure onto World politicians. We need a new global agreement on climate change that includes the booming Chinese economy. Since agreements with China in top-down policies have been hard to find, bottom up strategies might be the only chance we have. Chinese population needs to be included in the effort to avoid runaway climate change.

Our bottom-up strategy is called Green Steps ARK.
The ARK is a platform that accelerates sustainability education and connects learners with teachers. Help us to introduce the ARK in China in 10 other locations besides Shanghai. If you want to know more about the ARK, get in touch with us or read the in-depth multilingual description of our crowdfunding campaign here.

we double your effort

We decided to put a "Warranty clause" for every contribution to our crowdfunding campaign. In order to make sure we will achieve our funding goal for real, any contribution will be doubled by Green Steps itself. This may not be fully in the pure spirit of crowdfunding, but is our way to tell you that every single drop counts. Because in order to achieve our goal, we are keen to make it double. No matter what, your support will trigger an effect.

our vision is global

Green Steps has also had a location in Europe since 2019 and, starting from Autumn 2020, we will be pushing the Green Steps ARK from our new regional headquarters near Vienna. The European Commission has already promised us a first small EU grant for this undertaking.


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