Study Progress and Trends of Strategic Environmental Assessment in China

Abstract

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in China has developed rapidly since it was introduced into China in the 1990s. Chinese government promulgated the Environmental Impact Assessment Law of China (hereinafter referred to as the EIA Law) in 2002. In this law, it is stipulated clearly that regional and sector plans should be assessed. Through investigating materials and analyzing literatures, this article analyses the practical and academic study achievements of SEA in China that have been achieved since the EIA Law was implemented, probes into the current situation of the main level of SEA in China—plan EIA, then summarizes the development characteristics, and eventually, puts forward the development trends of SEA in China. The research conclusions can offer the foundations for comprehending systematically the progress of SEA in China.     

当代中国的环境政策:形成、特点与评价

当代中国环境政策的形成是在1972年联合国人类环境会议后开始起步。1979年翻2006年得翻快速发展。中国环境政策十分注意吸取发达国家的经验教训，密切结合中国国情，其主要特点有：①充分运用命令-控制手段；⑦努力推动筹集环保资金；③着力明确谁应承担保护环境的责任；④不断鼓励“防治结合”和“综合利用”；⑤较早体现对外开放和国际合作。30多年来，中国环境政策逐步演变并深化：地位从基本国策到可持续发展战略。重点从偏重污染控制翻污染控制与生态保护并重，方法从未端治理翻谭头控制，范围从点谭治理到流域与区域的综合治理。手段从以行政命令为主导翻以法律、经济手段为主导。文章最后介绍了国际社会对于这些政策的基本评价，展望了中国环境政策的未来。     

Study Progress and Trends of Strategic Environmental Assessment in China

Strategic environmental assessment （SEA） in China has developed rapidly since it was introduced into China in the 1990s. Chinese government promulgated the Environmental Impact Assessment Law of China （hereinafter referred to as the EIA Law） in 2002. In this law, it is stipulated clearly that regional and sector plans should be assessed. Through investigating materials and analyzing literatures, this article analyses the practical and academic study achievements of SEA in China that have been achieved since the EIA Law was implemented, probes into the current situation of the main level of SEA in China-plan EIA, then summarizes the development characteristics, and eventually, puts forward the development trends of SEA in China. The research conclusions can offer the foundations for comprehending systematically the progress of SEA in China.     

中国西部环境政策回顾及建议

西部生态环境脆弱而屏障作用显著.在新一轮西部大开发的背景下,对过去西部地区生态环境保护与管理政策进行回顾和总结,辨析其实施成效与存在的问题,并进一步提出相关政策建议,对今后西部国土开发和生态环境保护具有重要意义.本文通过对我国西部生态环境政策进行梳理和分析,发现:①西部地区的生态环境政策在不同阶段具有不同特征,改革开放以前(1949-1977年)主要是开发带动治理,改革开放-西部大开发之前(1978-1999年)逐渐由开发转变为以保护为主,西部大开发十年期间(2000-2010年)开始全面实施生态环境保护和建设;②在空间上,通过自然保护区设置、生态移民、财政转移支付和差别化的生态环境政策,在一定程度上促进了生态、社会、经济的协调发展;③在各项政策和工程实施下,西部生态环境退化趋势得到明显缓解,同时,农牧民的生活条件和经济收入得到较大提高,在生态环境治理、全社会参与、环保投资等方面探索出诸多成功经验;④生态环境政策还存在一些亟待解决的问题,如生态环境建设多以各个部门主导,缺乏统一规划和政策协调,有些政策缺乏充足的科学依据,生态补偿政策缺乏总体还需进一步完善,环境政策实施效果评估,反馈环节还较薄弱等.针对这些问题,本文最后提出建议.     

中国环境审计研究10年回顾:轨迹、问题与前瞻

国家审计署2008-2012年审计工作发展规划将资源环境审计作为六大审计类型之一,同时在2009年9月出台<关于加强资源环境审计工作的意见>(以下简称<意见>),这必将极大促进我国环境审计理论与实践的发展.在历史即将翻开新的一页之时,有必要对我国环境审计理论与实践研究轨迹进行系统总结和梳理,发掘其规律、问题,以利于未来环境审计研究.本文以发表于1999-2009年的689篇环境审计论文为样本,从发表时间、期刊类型、研究内容、研究方法、推动力量、学术影响力及研究人才队伍培养等方面系统描述我国近十年环境审计研究的轨迹.结果发现,我国环境审计研究的层面不够深入,研究方向存在偏颇性,研究视角显片面性.未来的环境审计研究应更加紧密围绕全球环境问题和国际环境会计的最新实,整合生态学、环境科学、会计学及审计学界力量,倡导研究视角的多元化,更加注重民间环境审计、环境审计的鉴证职能、生态绩效的评价审核等研究.     

Global Environmental Change and National Security of China

The concept of security has been redefined since the 1990s. As one of the important factors threatening human security, global environmental change has become a new challenge to the national security and social development. The national security problems caused by global environmental change, on one hand, are closely related to the global environmental problems, and, on the other hand, are manifested in the conflicts of international affairs. The global environmental change severely challenges the future de...     

社会人口特征与环境关心:基于农村的数据

环境问题是一个可以跨越群体界分从而被全社会普遍关注的问题,还是一个只被具有某些特征的群体关注的问题?背后的机制是什么?这是环境研究领域一个广泛研究的主题.我国学者己就城市居民环境关心及其社会基础开展了一些研究,但仍缺乏基于农村的调查研究.本文利用农村环境的调查数据,就农村居民的社会人口特征对其环境关心的影响进行了回归分析.研究表明,与城市研究发现一致,在中国农村,教育对环境关心也有着积极影响.但与城市发现不同的是,在农村年龄对环境关心起着消极影响,而且尽管男性在环境知识和感知上高于女性,两性在环境态度上并无显著差异.另外,研究还发现主观社会地位对环境关心有积极影响,外出打工经历有消极影响,而主观经济地位和党员身份对环境关心都无显著影响.最后也是本研究最令人兴奋的发现是,政治价值观对环境关心各个因子都有非常显著的影响.     

我国建材行业环境标志制度实施及意义

随着我要环境标志制度的实施。自1994年以来我要建材行业环境标志认证有了长足发展．据我国环境标志产品认证委员会秘书处数据。我国建材行业近200家企业的550多种产品获得环境标志认证．其产品涵盖了建材行业的各个方面。其中约有40多家企业近60个建筑涂料企业的产品、50家人造板材企业80多种产品、30余家粘合剂企业等建材行业产口获得环境标志产口认证。这对我国建材行业绩构调整具有十分重要的现实意义。     

Towards Sustainable Urban Environmental Management in Jiangyin city,East China

Abstract

Dramatic economic and social changes have taken place in Jiangyin city due to rapid and uneven urbanization and industrialization. The environmental degradation has followed driven by these changes since the 1980's. With the pressures and effects of environmental deterioration, the city has implemented environmental management to hold back the trends of negative environmental changes. From the viewpoint of systems, DPSER is a good model for urban environmental changes to understand the causes, pressure, state, effect, existing responses and future action strategies. We took Jiangyin city, a developed city in South Jiangsu province, East China, as an example, and analyzed the characteristics of environmental changes and urban responses using DPSER model. Some operational strategies have been put forward to direct the city environmental management towards a sustainable road step by step.     

Towards Sustainable Urban Environmental Management in Jiangyin city, East China

Dramatic economic and social changes have taken place in Jiangyin city due to rapid and uneven urbanization and industrialization. The environmental degradation has followed driven by these changes since the 1980's. With the pressures and effects of environmental deterioration, the city has implemented environmental management to hold back the trends of negative environmental changes. From the viewpoint of systems, DPSER is a good model for urban environmental changes to understand the causes, pressure, state, effect, existing responses and future action strategies. We took Jiangyin city, a developed city in South Jiangsu province, East China, as an example, and analyzed the characteristics of environmental changes and urban responses using DPSER model. Some operational strategies have been put forward to direct the city environmental management towards a sustainable road step by step.     

The Impact of Perceptual and Situational Factors on Environmental Communication: A Study of Citizen Engagement in China

This study applied a situational approach to understanding an environmental problem: PM2.5 (its resulted haze and smog air pollution) in China. Based on a national sample of 374 citizens living in China, it tested a situational model of problem solving and extended it by adding citizens’ environmental engagement behaviour as an immediate consequence of their communicative action. Results of a structural equation modelling analysis supported all the causal links in the conceptual model. Moreover, communicative action significantly mediated the relationship between referent criterion and environmental engagement. Problem recognition, constraint recognition, and involvement recognition did not influence environmental engagement directly, but exerted their significant indirect impact via two key mediators in the model: situational motivation in problem solving and communicative action in problem solving. Theoretical and practical implications of the present study were discussed.     

Environmental Risks in Newspaper Coverage: A Framing Analysis of Investigative Reports on Environmental Problems in 10 Chinese Newspapers

Economic modernization has been China's national priority since the establishment of the People's Republic. Since the authorities retain control over the media, which is also now subject to commercial influences, it might be expected that the Chinese news media would construct a discourse of assurance, endorsing economic modernization. A framing analysis of newspaper investigative reports on environmental problems in this article, however, shows that these reports have portrayed environmental problems in a manner that opposes rather than supports the national priority for economic growth. It challenges rather than reinforces the current institutional discourse of development and criticizes rather than contributes to the present structure of the capitalist mode of production in China. In this case, the prominence of the critical reflective discourse demonstrates the critical role investigative journalism potentially plays in arousing the public's awareness of risks in order to create a society in which such risks can be minimized. Factors in the wider social context contribute to our understanding of the critical discourse of environmental problems.     

构筑我国绿色贸易体系的对策研究

环境与贸易紧密联系相互影响。我国现行的贸易体系不仅使贸易不可持续．而且给资源环境带来了很大压力。要实现优化贸易增长和缓解资源环境压力的“双赢”目标,需要构筑绿色贸易体系。绿色贸易体系是指通过一定的环境管理政策手段来绿化或优化贸易结构、调控贸易总量、提高贸易的环境效率。最终能够减少并扭转我国贸易的资源环境逆差和促进绿色贸易发展的政策体系。绿色贸易体系的政策框架包括：从具体政策措施看．包括加征产品出口的资源环境关税、制定基于环保目的的市场准入与准出制度,设计投资的资源环境导向等环保“阀门”和手段;从政策的作用点看．包括从产品、企业、行业三个层面着手;从政策的管理看,依据环境影响的程度。对产品、企业和行业分别进行鼓励、许可、限制和禁止贸易的分类管理。     

环境信息公开及在中国的实践

环境信息公开是一种新的环境管理制度，对于提高环境决策的质量和执行，控制污染有着一定的作用。我国已在政府环境信息公开、企业环境信息公开和其它形式环境信息公开进行了一些探索和实践。在实践中，我国存在着环境信息公开法规体系不完善、公开的环境信息不准确、企业及产品的环境信息公开不充分等问题，应在健全环境信息公开的法规体系、加大企业环境信息公开力度、建设公共环境信息系统等方面做进一步的工作。     

2030年可持续发展议程对全球及中国环境治理的影响

《2030年可持续发展议程》已经形成了社会、经济与环境三大支柱的格局.根据进程追踪的方法,本文通过回顾环境进入《2030年可持续发展议程》目标的过程,着重分析环境目标未来15年将对全球与中国环境治理产生的重要影响.在全球环境治理层面的基本结论是:①全球环境治理体系的重要性将显著上升.②新型伙伴关系将强化环境非政府组织与市民社会的作用.③未来全球环境治理将形成以数据和指标为驱动的特点.④联合国系统内环境机构的作用将进一步强化,联合国环境署的发展受到关注.⑤环境与气候变化中的资金融资与技术转让渠道将进一步多元化.⑥气候变化问题与其他环境问题将在全球和国家层面深度融合.对中国环境治理的积极影响,体现在:①《2030年可持续发展议程》将为中国经济的转型升级和可持续发展提供新的强大动力,并形成倒逼机制;②将显著提升中国公众的环保意识;③为中国在全球治理中发挥关键性作用提供了难得的着力点;④将使中国的区域合作更加“绿色化”.当然,在新常态的经济形势下,全球可持续发展的环境目标也使得中国环境治理的压力与责任不断增加.同时,《2030年可持续发展议程》也存在一系列问题与不足之处:①目标过多且模糊不清,实现难度大.②当前所罗列的一些目标间可能包含潜在的冲突,需要进一步的研究与论证.③环境目标缺乏量化的标准.尽管如此,就环境目标而言,《2030年可持续发展议程》比千年发展目标更加综合、全面和系统,是当今国际社会应对环境问题集体努力的成果,必须高度重视与研究.     

Merging Duke Energy and Progress Energy: Online Public Discourse,Post-Fukushima Reactions,and the Absence of Environmental Communication

This article examines online discourse in 2011 surrounding the proposed Duke Energy and Progress Energy merger in the Carolinas. It explores how issues pertaining to the merger, including constructing new nuclear plants, are discussed in media coverage and by citizens using social media. Overall, we find that the merger discourse focuses on economic concerns rather than the environmental concerns we had anticipated. However, post-Fukushima discourse appears to have become more inclusive of environmental concerns. We conclude that environmental discussions and efforts are likely to be globally informed andlocally situated, discussing the implications for environmental communication research exploring online discourses, specifically through social media. Future research must address how to locate and delineate constellations of locally situated discourse to provide a clearer picture of environmentally focused social media communication.     

中国环境污染与经济增长的实证研究

本文基于我国1981-2007年环境污染与经济增长的相关数据,利用时间序列研究方法对我国EKC进行实证研究,说明建立EKC模型可能存在的问题。为弥补EKC模型中环境不影响经济的假设与变量难以量化的不足,运用VAR模型研究二者的动态关系。EKC研究结果表明:EKC是一种客观现象,而不是一般规律;与人们生产生活关系密切的污染物更有可能出现EKC特征。VAR脉冲响应和方差分解的动态分析结果与二者相互作用机理相符:一方面我国经济增长通过规模效应、结构效应、技术效应等因素影响环境;一方面随着人们环境质量需求弹性的增加,政府对环境质量的重视,环境对企业生产行为的约束机制正逐步形成,但可能由于人们通过自身消费影响产出的作用有限和环境政策实施存在滞后性等原因,这种机制的形成存在一定滞后。     

Strategic Environmental Assessment： A New Tool for Ecological Urbanization of Coastal Cities in China

Recently, there has been growing concerns about environmental issues related to urbanization in China. The intense natural resources utilization and increasing population has brought great pressure, especially in coastal areas, consequently affecting the sustainable development of coastal cities. In 2002, Environmental Impact Assessment Act （EIA Act） was enacted in China. Environmental impact assessment targeted at planning, one level of strategic environmental assessment （SEA）, thus became a legislative requirement. This paper considers SEA to be one of the important approaches not only to control coastal pollution, but also to conserve coastal ecosystems and finally to achieve sustainable development during urbanization, thus it will be a set an example for other areas of China. The experience of SEA in Xiamen, a coastal city in southeast China, illustrates the potentials of SEA. This paper first briefly introduces the concept and potentials of SEA, then compares two SEA cases and a project EIA case in Xiamen, and finally identifies the key characteristics of SEA.     

Review,assessment and recommendations on environmental policies in Western China

Reviewing the existing environmental policies in Western China,we find that:in time sequence,the characteristics of China's western environmental policies shift from"development drive governance"to the full implementation of environmental protection and construction;and in spatial sequence,the ecological,social,and economic development of Western China reach to coordination through the nature reserve setting,ecological migrants,fiscal transfer payment and differentiated ecological environmental policies.Due to the implementation of the policies and projects,environmental degradation trends in the western ecological environment were alleviated significantly,the living conditions of farmers and herdsmen were improved,and many successful experiences were explored.However,future ecological environmental construction in Western China requires further improvement in integrated planning,eco-compensation mechanism,and policy assessment.This paper concludes with specific recommendations such as drawing up ecological environment construction planning,strengthening environmental law enforcement and incentive mechanisms,improving policy assessment and scientific support,enhancing environmental protection capacity,improving eco-compensation mechanism,and refining the environmental policies for key areas.     

中国环境教育研究的历史与未来趋势分析

通过对1979年以来中国环境教育学术文章在数量、内容和研究方法等方面的分析。发现中国环境教育研究自1994年开始持续升温。2000年开始从文章内容和研究方法上明显显示出转向可持续发展教育方向的趋势，2004年开始从文章数量上也显示出转向可持续发展教育的方向o20多年来的环境教育研究中。对环境教育意义的阐述和国外环境教育动态的研究分量最重，研究方法的探讨和研究则表现出对主流教育领域的影响敏感且响应及时。但这些文章显示出的环境教育研究方法绝大多数以思辨为主。实证研究、质的研究缺乏。对文章作者分析结果显示。中国环境教育研究队伍很不稳定。缺乏基本的研究经费支持是研究队伍不能保持稳定并缺乏在本土开展的实证和质的研究的根本制约因素。怎样协调因资源禀赋和发展程度不同而导致各国在开展环境教育时出现环境价值观和环境立场产生差异甚至对立的现象。是未来环境教育研究不可回避的任务。