Proving that there is no greater impetus for environmental protection than human need, China announced a raft of aggressive new measures to help reverse the ecological damage occurring alongside the nation's unprecedented economic growth.

New policies include an extensive water-saving plan to cut the nation’s water use per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by 20 percent within five years, a new climate change plan aimed chiefly at mitigating future water supply shortages, and a policy to make provincial officials directly responsible for environmental harm.

Food security, global warming related water shortages and rising pollution levels were all cited as key concerns in bringing forward the new measures.

Now if we could get North Americans to similarly see the connection between environment and human health we'd really be on to something.