In the United States and much of the rest of the developed world, human rights and climate change aren’t usually treated as related issues.  In China, though, they are intimately intertwined, and policymakers meeting in Copenhagen this week would do well to realize the connection.  Copenhagen will be dealing with China’s climate issues at the macro level.  They’ll be talking to central government ministers, trying to get an agreement from Beijing.  But they’ll miss out on the bigger picture. China has no freedom of speech, no independent judiciary, and a huge corruption problem.  That’s a pretty toxic mix.  These problems will make enforcement of any agreements difficult at best, and impossible at worst.  Adam Minter has written on several occasions about the unlikelihood of enforcement of any promises made by the Chinese delegation in Copenhagen.  Many of China’s cities are home to fetid, particulate-laden air that top the list of the world’s most polluted.  Tainted rivers run through its vast countryside.  Dust storms howl through deserts once full of lush forests.  No wonder environmental degradation tops the list of complaints from Chinese citizens of all walks of life.

Despite widespread frustration with China’s environmental problems, publicly fighting environmental degradation in China is a political act. Those who become too outspoken are charged with crimes like “endangering state security” or “subverting state power, ” or simply thrown into re-education through labor camps for up to three years without charge or trial. What other countries would imprison someone like Sun Xiaodi for trying to report a potentially deadly uranium leak, or try to silence those working to expose cadmium in the food supply.  In many of the countries meeting in Copenhagen, China’s environmental whistleblowers would be lauded as heroes.  But in China they pose a very real threat to the very stability of the CCP.  Until the U.S. and other world governments wise up to the connection between China’s human rights abuses and its environment, any agreements made are not likely to produce measurable results. (Read more after the jump)

The United States and others meeting in Copenhagen should take this opportunity to demand that Beijing stop imprisoning whistleblowers, and that they work towards a freer press and independent judiciary so that when the polluters poison China’s natural resources, or fail to uphold their end of the bargain, there is at least a modicum of recourse. After all, China is the world’s largest emitter of carbon, and it’s not likely to slow down anytime soon.