U.N. report raises pressure on China to cut pollution

As China’s economy roars ahead, leaving Technicolor rivers and polluted skies in its wake, the world’s most populous nation has struggled to craft environmental policies that will appease growing numbers of critics at home and abroad.

Traditionally, many of the issues outlined in Friday’s ominous United Nations report on climate change have been framed here, as elsewhere, as a trade-off between clean air and jobs. Yet it’s also becoming increasingly evident that the division is not so clear-cut. Some studies estimate that pollution exacts a 7% to 10% cost on China’s economy.

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