Understanding and minimizing environmental impacts of the Belt and Road Initiative

Abstract

China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) sets to create connections and build infrastructure across Eurasia, Asia, and parts of the African continent in its initial phase and is the largest infrastructure project of all time. Any infrastructure project on this scale will necessarily pass through ecofragile regions and key biodiversity areas (KBAs). This creates an imperative to identify possible areas of impact and probable effects on conservation values to facilitate adaptive planning and to mitigate, minimize, or avoid impacts. Using the highest resolution route maps of the BRI available, I overlaid the proposed road and rail routes on KBAs, protected areas, and predicted biodiversity hotspots for over 4138 animal and 7371 plant species. I also assessed the relationship between the proposed route with the distribution of mines across BRI countries and the proportion of deforestation and forest near routes. Infrastructure, especially mining, was clustered near the proposed route; thus, construction and development along the route may increase the size and number of mines. Up to 15% of KBAs were within 1 km of proposed railways. Thus, planned and probable development along the routes may pose a significant risk to biodiversity, especially because the majority of KBAs are unprotected. Many biodiversity hotspots for different taxa were near the route. These hotspots varied between taxa, making systematic management and environmental impact assessments an effective strategy for at least some taxa. A combination of planning and mitigation strategies will likely be necessary to protect the most important areas for biodiversity proximal to development, especially in currently unprotected KBAs and other regions that need protection. A fuller assessment of trade‐offs between conservation and other values will be necessary to make good decisions for each project and site being developed, including potentially modifying parts of the route to minimize impacts. Modification or foregoing of infrastructure may be needed if stakeholders consider the conservation costs too high.

Evaluation of the Obstacles to Developing the Aynak Copper Mine in Afghanistan

“…This study assessed the degree of administrative capacity, labor investment, labor productivity, capital investment, efficiency of capital, terroristic activities, and issues of religion in relation to the developing process of the Aynak Copper Mine project in Afghanistan. In line with previous research on economic collaboration [2,[22][23][24] and Afghanistan [1, [25][26][27][28], the major finding of this current research is that the progressive process of developing the Aynak Copper Mine project is strongly associated with the factors of DAC, TAs, and RIs. One of the most significant results showed that a lack of strong administrative capacity may be an obstacle in developing the Aynak Copper Mine.…”

“…Afghanistan is not only one of the most fragile and conflict-afflicted states in the world, but is also a country that seeks economic cooperation facilitated through political trust, economic integration, business collaboration, and cultural and humanistic communication [1]. In the past decade, more than 3200 commercial initiatives have been constructed [2]. This is in accordance with the tendency toward globalization, which facilitates an international community that coordinates well with the interests of sustainable development.…”

Road development in Asia: Assessing the range-wide risks to tigers

“…Another policy to minimize road impacts on tigers and other wildlife would be to require Chinesefunded BRI efforts overseas to ascribe to the same strict environmental regulations on road development that now exist within Chinese borders (14). Likewise, national bodies and international funding agencies, such as the Asian Development Bank and World Bank, should mandate international oversight and standards on environmental impact assessments (14). Our results highlight the need to make sustainable road development a top priority.…”

“…The creation of bilateral agreements that include provisions for reducing wildlife poaching and trafficking between China and countries that are part of the BRI would also lessen the impacts of that infrastructure initiative on tigers and other species of conservation concern (8). Another policy to minimize road impacts on tigers and other wildlife would be to require Chinesefunded BRI efforts overseas to ascribe to the same strict environmental regulations on road development that now exist within Chinese borders (14). Likewise, national bodies and international funding agencies, such as the Asian Development Bank and World Bank, should mandate international oversight and standards on environmental impact assessments (14).…”

Net positive outcomes for nature

“…But they would Box 1: Net outcomes on the Belt and Road Some 75% of the infrastructure that will exist on the Earth by 2050, by investment, has yet to be built [14]. One component of this coming infrastructure boom, China's 'Belt and Road Initiative' (BRI; Extended Data Figure 1), will build cultural and trade links across the world, but is likely to exacerbate biodiversity losses [15,16]. Imagine that the BRI sought, instead, to achieve a net positive outcome for biodiversity.…”