国际环境执政理论研究进展透视

要想真正改善中国的环境条件,需要中国领导人和整个社会齐心合作,加强环境执政.在欧洲、日本和美国,环境执政手段正在发生变化.20世纪六七十年代起,国家政府开始积极致力于环境保护工作,是政策形成的初期阶段,而环境执政的主要特点是命令与控制的环境法规规范.这些法规一般技术性很强,关注特定污染物;虽然其过去在改善西方环境条件方面作出了重要贡献,人们还是日益认识到这种方式的局限性.因此,现在已开始采纳新的环境执政模式,其特点是多方利益相关者参与、决策过程更透明,重点从处理已发生的污染问题,向源头控制和更具预防性质的计划方式转变,也越来越重视以人类健康和生态系统的保护为目标的途径,而不再是简单减少某种污染物的排放水平.政府的成功取决于政府强化环境执政的种种步骤.

Perspectives on Environmental Governance

If China is to improve environmental conditions,then China's leaders and society will need to work together to strengthen environmental governance.Environmental governance refers to the approaches used by a society to address pollution and promote conservation.Whereas the word "government" focuses attention on governmental bodies and actors,the term "governance" deals with the processes used by governments to control or coordinate social or economic activities,achieve societal goals and deal with policy issues.Approaches to environmental governance are changing in Europe,Japan,and the United States.National governments began to become heavily involved in environmental protection in the 1960s and 1970 s.During this early period of policy formation, environmental governance was characterized by command and control environmental regulations.Regulations were typically technocratic in nature and focused on specific pollutants.While these regulations have played a critical role in improving environmental conditions in the West,there is growing awareness of their limitations.As a result,new modes of environmental governance,which are characterized by multi-stakeholder participation and more transparent decision making are being adopted.The focus of programs is shifting from dealing with pollution after it emerges to more preventative and precautionary planning.There is also greater interest in approaches that have as their goal protection of human health and ecological systems rather than simply reduction or elimination of a specific pollutant.The success of the government in improving environmental will depend on the steps it takes to strengthen environmental governance.