Food for thought: Martyn Kelly visits Wuhan

‘The UK coverage of China’s environmental record does not match what I see on the ground here.’

Unless your Mandarin is good, I recommend shelving your plant-based diet before visiting China. That rich umami flavour in a tofu dish might come from monosodium glutamate, but it is equally likely to derive from pork. In any case, you might not have much choice: it is considered rude to decline the dishes your host places before you.

You are on safer ground with street food, insofar as you can point and gesture rather than relying on a menu. But discerning the filling of a dumpling or bao with just your eyes is not easy. The market near our hotel sold barbecued meats, roasted chicken, and spicy broth made with clams or crayfish. It smelled (and tasted) wonderful, so long as you weren’t stressing about carbon footprints or animal welfare.

The challenge is stark: how can we bring carbon emissions under control without the help of one of its most populous countries? The young adults queueing at the market were raised by parents who knew the deprivations of the cultural revolution; their grandparents remember the ‘great leap forward’. The youth of China are definitely open to new ideas, but they have been raised to relish the material bounty of the past two decades.

There were several takeaway drivers waiting around; as in the UK, their scooters weave through traffic. Unlike the UK, the disposable cartons go in the same bin as the food waste.

The situation was very different in Shanghai, a three-hour train ride away. There, there were clearly-marked bins for separating waste. The difference between the cities emphasises how good intentions need to be underpinned by good infrastructure. A personal commitment to recycle is moral, but a municipality’s decision is economic. (That said, I have no doubt that officials in Wuhan are doing their sums, and that the situation will change soon.)

One of the biggest changes since our previous visit, just before the pandemic, was the number of electric vehicles. About a third of all cars and taxis, and over half of all buses, are now electric. Many cities have introduced equivalents of our low emission zones, and this contributes to better air quality. Plentiful, cheap public transport also plays a role.

Of course, electricity has to be generated somewhere. I wondered if all these batteries were being charged by new coal-fired power stations. In the cities, the population is concentrated in high-rise developments, so the potential for rooftop solar panels is limited. But we saw some huge solar farms in the rural areas between Wuhan and Shanghai.

The UK press coverage of China’s environmental record does not match what I see on the ground here. China has a reputation for playing tough in environmental negotiations, but it is often unfairly singled out when other large countries present similar levels of intransigence. Inside China things are changing. Much as we deplore the one-party state, and its poor record on human rights, when Beijing wants change, it can happen very fast.

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