1 An Investigation of Chinese Attitudes toward the Environment: Case Study Using the Grain for Green Project December 10, 2009 (Thursday) Speaker: Min-Hao Yuan ( 袁明豪 ) Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan Shixiong Cao, Li Chen and Zhande Liu AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment February 2009, Vol. 38, Issue 1, pp NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY

2 AMBIO was founded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Ranking of Impact Factor (2008): Engineering, Environmental 8/38 Environmental Sciences50/161

3 Secretary General of UN Maurices Strong Conference President Ingemund Bengtsson The Stockholm Conference on 16 June The Milestones of Global Environmental Conservation United Nations (UN) Conference on the Human Environment June 1972 Stockholm, Sweden UN Environment Programme (UNEP) December 1972 “Our Common Future” World Commission on Environment and Development 1987 Paperback cover Sustainable Development Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. UN Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit) June 1992 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Commission on Sustainable Development UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Agenda 21

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5 The Grain for Green Program (GGP) From 1999 to 2010, the government plans to spend USD40 billion to convert 147 million ha of farmland into forest and grassland and 173 million ha of wasteland (including abandoned farmland) into forest in 25 provinces in western China. Given China’s tremendous size and population, the attitudes and behavior of its citizens and how these attitudes affect their responses to the GGP will play a key role in the protection and sustainability of the global environment.

6 Objectives To identify the factors required to achieve support for the use of strategic environmental management. To study the attitudes of citizens as revealed by their responses to general questions related to a specific government initiative - China’s GGP. To clarify the attitudes toward both the environmental policy and how these attitudes affected self-reported willingness to invest in environmental conservation.

7 Questionnaire Is the Chinese environment badly degraded? Would you donate money for environmental conservation? If so, how much (USD)? Is the environment or the economy more important? Does environmental degradation affect your health? Is it worthwhile to invest more than 300 billion RMB in the Grain For Green Project (GGP)?

8 Results and Discussion NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY

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10 Age NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY

11 Net Income NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY

12 Education Level NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY

13 NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY Employment

14 NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY Location

15 NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY Province

16 NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY Gender

17 NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY Conclusions Education is a significant predictor of a person’s perception of the natural environment and perceived risk factors and that this increased perception can alter their environmental behavior. To provide better support for this finding, it will be necessary in a future study to test whether improving a person’s education about the issues changes their opinion of those issues and thus motivates changes in their environment- related behavior.

18 NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY Conclusions Most Chinese citizens supported China’s environmental policy and the goal of environmental restoration (GGP). Younger citizens with higher levels of education and higher net incomes, male respondents, as well as residents in urban areas and remote western areas with a vulnerable environment and ‘‘knowledge workers’’ or other skilled jobs generally exhibited a greater recognition of the importance of the environment and of restoration programs.

19 Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan Thank you for your attention.