sing examples and theories, critically evaluate the extent to which national policies and global governance can address environmental challenges.

This essay is going to look at air and water pollution in China and the issue of rising sea levels and the impact on small island states (SIDs). The pollution that industries such as oil and textile produce have led to a phenomenon known as ‘cancer villages.’ These cancer villages are located next to factories and have saw an increase in deaths, cancers, birth defects and infant mortality. A realist view of china is that the countries government employs the ‘pollute first, clean up later’ approach. Polluters who occupy villages have caused toxic air and water which pose a sever threat to the villagers. Costs to the health care system pose a large long-term problem. China need to address air and water pollution through implementing legislation such as safe minimum standards and market-based instruments. Low lying islands such as the Maldives and the Pacific face the severe threat of disappearing which will lead to an increase in the levels of climate refugees. Germany have taken action with the International Climate Initiative (IKI) and The Nansen initiative, work on behalf of the UNHCR on a mission to protect displaced people. Liberal institutionalism argues that through international bodies such as the United Nations or the European Union, countries can cooperate effectively with each other to achieve change. The realist approach rejects the internationalist theory, arguing that supranational bodies are not addressing change as environmental pollution and poverty and is failing in practise. This short research paper will examine two environmental challenges separately and then follow on to a comparison of how global governance and national polices can effectively address change.

China’s Cancer Villages.
It is clear that the level of economic development in China is associated with environmental challenges, namely cancer villages. Cancer villages can occur when the river water quality stands at grade 5 or worse which is the lowest grade in Chinese water classification. (Liu, 2010).
The Role of Grassroots movements and Non-Governmental Officials.
Grassroots activism and non-governmental officials’ efforts have led to some small changes, villagers sometime try to block traffic to factories or ‘tamper with water supply systems in order to gain attention’ (Liu, 2010). Such activities and protests lead to riots. The Chinese government often supress activists, arresting or shutting down protests. Wang Linsheng was fired from his position as Chinese Communist Party secretary after telling the media how many villagers had died of cancer. However, these grassroots movements and NGO efforts to gain sign