1. EST 612. Environmental Policy and Governance The United States and China: A Brief Comparison
David A. Sonnenfeld
Dept. of Environmental Studies
College of Environmental Science and Forestry
State University of New York
Syracuse, NY, USA
February 2011

2. United States of America (USA)
World's largest economy
$12.15 trillion GNI per year, 3.4% growth rate (2004 est.)
$40 billion FDI (2002 est.)
$37,388 GDP per capita (2003 est.)
Population: million, 1.0% growth rate (2006 est.)
Ecological footprint (2003 est.)
United States: 9.6 ha per capita
Finland: 7.6 ha per capita
Canada: 7.6 ha per capita
CO2 emissions
22.5 % of total CO2 emissions (1998 est.)
CO2 emissions: 19.8 metric tons/ per capita (2000 est.)
CO2 emissions: 5,590 mmt total (2000 est.)

3. Environmental Quality in the USA
Per Cent
Source: US EPA (2004)

4. Environmental Quality in the USA
Source: US EPA (2003)

5. People’s Republic of China
World's fastest growing economy
$1.68 trillion GNI per year, 8.8% growth rate (2004 est.)
$49 billion FDI (2002 est.)
$1,094 GDP per capita (2003 est.)
Population
1/5 of world’s total
1.3 billion, 0.7% growth rate (2006 est.)
Ecological footprint (2003 est.)
China: 1.6 ha per capita
Albania: 1.4 ha per capita
Dominican Rep.: 1.6 ha per capita
CO2 emissions
CO2 emissions: 2.2 metric tons/ per capita (2000 est.)
CO2 emissions: 2,780 mmt (2000 est.)

6. Environmental Quality in China
Source: Liu and Diamond (2005)

7. Environmental Quality in China
Source: Liu and Diamond (2005)

8. Environmental Quality in China
Source: Liu and Diamond (2005)

9. Ratification of Environmental Agreements
United States
China
International Trade in Endangered Species (1973)
Yes
Montreal Protocol (1987)
Basel Convention (1989) No
Convention on Biological Diversity (1992)
Kyoto Protocol (1997)