Reducing Environmental Risks from Belt and Road Initiative Investments in Transportation Infrastructure

Author(s):  
Elizabeth Losos ◽  
Alexander Pfaff ◽  
Lydia Olander ◽  
Sara Mason ◽  
Seth Morgan
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongjoo Hahm ◽  
Selim Raihan

Using a Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model, and China as the base for analytical comparison, this paper shows that there are significant economic benefits to China and the participating countries along all six Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) economic corridors. However, to maximize these benefits, the social and environmental risks need to be well managed. The analysis shows a clear sequencing in terms of priority corridors. Two corridors have minimal investments and immediate returns, two corridors have significant investments with huge returns, and two corridors have high investments with lower returns. Overall, the paper demonstrates that to ensure the sustainability of any BRI corridor development, there is a need to consider its costs and benefits from the economic, social and environmental perspectives.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ling Lu ◽  
Kai Fang ◽  
Chuan Ming Liu ◽  
Cheng Sun

Under the tide of global economic integration with aggravated environmental risks caused by intensive human activities, the spatial network correlation of environmental risks has become intensified. The close exchange of activities among the countries under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) will especially feel this contagion of environmental risks. Given this situation, this article analyzes the environmental risk contagion relations among the BRI countries and the characteristics of their network structure by using social network analysis (SNA). A block model is used to analyze the spatial clustering characteristics of the environmental risk contagion. Specifically, the driving factors of environmental risk contagion are analyzed through the quadratic assignment procedure (QAP) of SNA. The results of this article provide some references for the BRI to reduce the environmental risks and jointly control the environmental risk contagion, so as to assist in the promotion of a green silk road.


Complexity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Yijiao Wang

The Belt and Road Initiative has brought new opportunities for countries along the routes to develop their transportation infrastructure. Through large-scale transportation infrastructure construction, these countries enhanced the Belt and Road cooperation with each other, which further facilitates the rapid development of their own economy, but whether this can promote the sustainable development of their own environment, relevant research is still lacking. In this paper, China is taken as the study subject to evaluate the comprehensive effects that the Belt and Road Initiative exerts on the economy and environment through improving transportation infrastructure. In the study, RAM indicators were first established to measure the unified economic and environmental efficiency of transportation infrastructure, a DID model was then built to study the effects of the Initiative on the unified efficiency, and mediation models were finally created to discuss the ways in which the Belt and Road Initiative can improve the unified economic and environmental efficiency of transportation infrastructure through transformation and upgrade of industrial structure. The study result shows that the Belt and Road Initiative can significantly promote the improvement of the unified economic and environmental efficiency of the national transportation infrastructure, but the result is regionally heterogeneous. The Initiative has positive effects in improving the unified efficiency in eastern region but has no effect in the central and western regions. Although the Initiative can significantly enhance the efficiency through transforming and upgrading the industrial structure, the industrial structure rationalization plays a primary positive role. This paper provides the empirical evidences to evaluate the implementation effects of the Initiative in the transportation infrastructure sector and verifies that countries along the routes can achieve sustainable development through large-scale transportation infrastructure construction under the Belt and Road Initiative.


2019 ◽  
pp. 47-71
Author(s):  
Petr M. Mozias

China’s Belt and Road Initiative could be treated ambiguously. On the one hand, it is intended to transform the newly acquired economic potential of that country into its higher status in the world. China invites a lot of nations to build up gigantic transit corridors by joint efforts, and doing so it applies productively its capital and technologies. International transactions in RMB are also being expanded. But, on the other hand, the Belt and Road Initiative is also a necessity for China to cope with some evident problems of its current stage of development, such as industrial overcapacity, overdependence on imports of raw materials from a narrow circle of countries, and a subordinate status in global value chains. For Russia participation in the Belt and Road Initiative may be fruitful, since the very character of that project provides us with a space to manoeuvre. By now, Russian exports to China consist primarily of fuels and other commodities. More active industrial policy is needed to correct this situation . A flexible framework of the Belt and Road Initiative is more suitable for this objective to be achieved, rather than traditional forms of regional integration, such as a free trade zone.


2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-49
Author(s):  
Lars Wächter

Chinas Staatschef Xi Jinping will das „Reich der Mitte“ bis 2049 zur neuen Weltmacht führen. Dazu soll die alte Seidenstraße zu neuem Leben erweckt werden. Belt and Road Initiative heißt das Megaprojekt, das in den nächsten Jahren die Weltwirtschaft massiv verändern wird.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (06) ◽  
pp. 20475-20182
Author(s):  
Ige Ayokunle O ◽  
Akingbesote A.O

The Belt and Road initiative is an important attempt by China to sustain its economic growth, by exploring new forms of international economic cooperation with new partners. Even though the B&R project is not the first attempt at international cooperation, it is considered as the best as it is open in nature and does not exclude interested countries. This review raised and answered three questions of how the B&R project will affect Nigeria’s economy?  How will it affect the relationship between Nigeria and China? What could go wrong?, The review concluded that Nigeria can only benefit positively from the project.


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