China's $8 trillion construction programme 'riskiest environmental project in history'
China's $8 trillion construction programme 'riskiest environmental project in history'
By middle of this century 7,000 infrastructure projects are planned to span 64 countries across Asia, Africa and Europe
Harry Cockburn
China’s $8 trillion plan to create a new Silk Road with sea and land links across Asia is the “riskiest environmental project in history”, a global expert on major infrastructure projects has said.
The Belt and Road initiative is already underway. It aims to boost trade and economic growth across a vast area of the globe through the building of massive new transport infrastructure and energy projects.
Photo taken by a drone shows workers on a double-deck suspension bridge being constructed over the Yangtze River in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province Getty
But Professor William Laurance of James Cook University in Australia has warned it could be the riskiest environmental venture ever undertaken.
“China has enormous ambitions, but with that comes enormous responsibilities,” he wrote in the Nature Sustainability journal.
If all goes to plan, the Belt and Road initiative will ultimately span at least 64 nations across Asia, Africa, Europe and the Pacific region.
By 2050 the project could involve 7,000 infrastructure projects seeing $8 trillion (£5.9 trillion) in investment, Prof Laurance and his team of researchers wrote.
Last year, a report by the Fitch credit rating agency said $900bn (£660bn) worth of projects were planned or already underway.
The initiative is made up of two main components: the Silk Road Economic Belt, and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
The belt is to be an overland corridor linking China to the Middle East, central Asia and continuing on to Europe. Oil pipelines, bridges, tunnels and rail and road links will be built to sustain it.
https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/china-belt-and-road-initiative-silk-route-cost-environment-damage-a8354256.html
