The Devouring Dragon: How China's Rise Threatens The Natural World.

• Author: Bellamy, Paul
• Position: Book review

THE DEVOURING DRAGON

How China's Rise Threatens The Natural World

Author: Craig Simons

Published by: Awa Press, Wellington, 2013, 289pp, $36.

Craig Simons provides an insightful account examining the impact of Chinas rise on both the Chinese and world environments. The author writes of the impact's magnitude given the Chinese economy's significant annual growth, its population representing one-fifth of humanity, and the country's responsibility for one-quarter of global greenhouse emissions with almost half of all the coal burned on Earth. The author moves beyond statistics to provide a vivid eyewitness account drawing on his travel throughout China and the world where the environment has changed. These include the Amazon, India and New Guinea. The author has supplemented his own experiences and knowledge with interviews that provide helpful information. These range from talking to indigenous people, scientists and environmental advocates, traders of endangered animals, and ordinary people. Reference notes are extensive, though additional tables and diagrams would be useful. Information on New Zealand, which is mentioned on the book's back cover, would also be welcomed.

Simons believes that unless we live more sustainably, the speed of environmental change will accelerate as both Chinese and the rest of the developing world's demands increase. Moreover, unless we find ways to produce and consume more sustainably, our growing demands will degrade our shared environment at an ever-faster rate. As the environmental costs become more obvious we will address the problems with greater urgency. The real questions are: when will that happen, and...