Assessing Environmental Implications of the Belt and Road Initiative E-Book

• Herausgeber: GRIN Verlag
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Seminar paper from the year 2024 in the subject Earth Science / Geography - Geopolitics, University of Heidelberg, language: English, abstract: The belt and road initiative is a geopolitical project implemented by the government of the People’s Republic of China. It focusses on infrastructural projects supported by China along its planned trade routes. The Belt and Road initiative is one of the most important measurements to make China an economic and political world power. (Atilgan & Ertl, 2018) In a geopolitical disputed world, it aims at linking economically and politically countries along the Belt and Road initiative’s trade routes to China’s influence. The Belt and Road initiative includes several economic corridors aiming at connecting China with the majority of the countries in Asia and Europe. There is a difference between the maritime and the land silk road. The maritime silk road connects China via the Indian ocean, the red sea and the Mediterranean Sea with Europe. The land silk road contains several economic corridors from China to southeast Asia, to Pakistan, to the middle east, to Russia and to Europe. India is a member of the Asian infrastructure Bank, but due to political issues and geopolitical interests, it opposes rather China’s Belt and Road initiative, so it’s de facto mostly excluded from its infrastructural and economical projects. As a major political and economic power in South Asia, India tries to remain independent from the Belt and Road initiative and to launch own economic projects. (Khurana, 2019) In this term paper I will focus on the environmental impacts of the China-Pakistan-Economic-Corridor (CPEC) as a part of the Belt and Road initiative.