Review on environmental policies in China:Evolvement,features,and evaluation

This article reviews the development of current environmental policies in China and the great progress made during 1979–2006. Applying lessons learned from industrialized countries to its own situation, China’s environmental policies have the following main features: (1) to explore command and control measures to their fullest extent, (2) to strive to raise funding for environmental protection, (3) to identify who should take accountability for environmental protection; (4) to encourage strategies of “combination of prevention and control” and “integrated utilization”, (5) to embrace openness in the field of environmental policy and early international cooperation. During the past 30 years, China’s environmental policies have evolved and deepened: status expanded the national basic policies of environmental protection by adding a sustainable development strategy, focus changed from pollution control to a combination of pollution control and ecological protection, method changed from end control to source control, scope changed form point source control to watershed and territory pollution control, and management style changed from primarily using executive power to using legal and economic measures. This article introduces how they are evaluated by the international community and provides the prospects of the policies.     

Drivers and barriers to engage enterprises in environmental management initiatives in Suzhou Industrial Park, China

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in sustainable development not only for their significant contribution to China’s economy, but also for their large share of total discharged pollutants. Therefore, this research takes the enterprises in Suzhou Industrial Park, China as the case study to investigate the environmental management practices of SMEs, and identify drivers and barriers to engaging businesses in environmental management initiatives. It is shown that, as in other countries, SMEs are less active in adopting environmental management initiatives than larger companies. Legislation remains the key driver to engage SMEs in environmental management initiatives. Based on the analysis, policy recommendations are also presented.     

Development and demonstration of fuel cell vehicles and supporting infrastructure in China

The demand for urban transportation in China, including cars, motorbikes, buses, and trains, is growing substantially. China’s transportation fleet is projected to expand from 16 to 94 million vehicles between 2000 and 2020, with liquid and electricity transport fuel demand growing from about 5 Quadrillion British Thermal Units (Quads) to over 20 Quads in 2035. In response to energy security, economic growth and environmental protection needs, Chinese government agencies, academia and the private sector have organized their programs and investments to advance development and demonstration of sustainable alternative transportation systems. This analysis surveys historic development of fuel cell vehicle (FCV) including fuel cell buses (FCB) technology in China, summarizes recent efforts to scale-up FCV development and associated infrastructure in major Chinese cities, and briefly addresses future directions in Chinese fuel cell and hydrogen energy technology development. Since the late 1990’s, Chinese universities, government institutions and the private sector have implemented research, development, demonstration and deployment programs for electric (EV), fuel cell (FCV), and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV). These efforts have advanced the feasibility of FCVs to be a part of sustainable urban transportation system, including technical performance, infrastructure, and customer acceptance. Three generations of FCVs, START I, START II and START III have been developed, demonstrated and deployed. Similarly, several generations of FCBs have been developed and demonstrated. Collectively, these efforts have demonstrated and deployed over 1,000 FCBs and FCVs in several Chinese cities. Large-scale, intensive-use FCV and FCB demonstration trials, including those during the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2010 Shanghai World Exposition (EXPO), have been successfully built and operated. Infrastructure, such as hydrogen production facilities, fuelling stations, and maintenance stations have been constructed and operated to support the fleets of FCBs and FCVs. Experiences learned from these FCV research, development, and demonstration activities are the foundation for scaling up infrastructure and fleet trials in a growing number of cities in eastern and western China. An aggressive research and development vision and 2020 technology performance targets provide a foundation for the next generation of EVs, FCVs and HEVs, and, options for China’s efforts to develop a portfolio of sustainable transportation systems.     

Review of water pollution control in China

Water resource shortage and pollution has seriously threatened the survival and development of developing countries. Because of China’s specific economical and social circumstances, complete adoption of developed countries’ experience is unrealistic. At present, China needs to develop strategies and technologies in source water pollution control and municipal environmental remediation that embrace the country’s specific need to battle the water resource problem. Among them, efficient source water pretreatment is a critical step to ensure a safe municipal water supply. Unlike developed countries, it is not yet feasible in China to treat water supplied to the household and have it meet the standard of direct drinking; therefore, it is more appropriate to refer to it as service water. As a beneficial supplement, an additional community drinking water network and household drinking water apparatus can be considered.     

企业环境管理会计核算框架与方法研究

企业环境管理会计从环境的角度,将企业的环境影响纳入到环境会计的核算范围之内,构建一些实物型或价值型的环境业绩指标,表达企业对环境造成的影响或损害。本文立足于国际环境会计应用案例,结合财务会计特征和我国目前的环境教据基础,研究提出了中国企业环境管理会计的基本内涵和方法框架,并就如何加强企业环境管理会计的应用进行了讨论。     

中国跨区域水环境保护行政管理体制存在的问题探析及研究

中国以流域为单元实行的统一区域管理虽然已普遍被世界各国政府和学者接受,但在中国并没有形成一个具有统一职权和执行效力的跨区域水环境保护管理机构。以流域水资源管理为例,流域水资源保护机构名义上受水利部与环境保护部的双重领导,但在编制上却是水利部的派出事业单位,负责具体水污染管理事宜的环境保护部门的领导权在实际中并不容易落实。同时水利部和环保部门相应的受各级地方政府领导,其财政权和人事任免权由地方政府掌控,这种地位的不独立性容易使其行为受地方政府意志的支配。另外,在晋升激励和财政分税制的制度背景下,各流域地方政府有意愿和能力干涉环保部门的行为,使各种水环境保护事物让位和屈就于更实惠的地方经济发展。对于此种跨区域水环境保护行政管理体制现存的问题应当进行改善。     

浅谈环境规划中公众参与有效性的影响因素

环境规划是环境管理工作的重要内容之一,环境规划的目标是环境保护与经济协调发展的具体结合点。为使制定的规划能够可行,在规划的整个过程中公众参与是非常重要的。文章基于对中国目前环境规划中的公众参与存在的不足之处的简要论述,对影响环境规划公众参与有效性的因素进行了初步的探讨,指出公众参与的制度、对象、时间、形式、内容的设计、解决矛盾的能力、参与公众的热情等是影响中国环境规划公众参与有效性的主要因素,并提出了一些提高中国环境规划公众参与有效性的建议。     

环境管理手段体系研究

社会经济的快速发展和环境保护的日趋重要,要求环境保护与社会经济协调发展。科学有效地应用环境管理手段,是促进协调发展的有效途径之一。为了促进环境管理手段作用的有效发挥,完善环境管理,在分析现有的5种环境管理手段的基础上,提出了环境管理参与手段和环境管理投资手段,并对这两个新的手段的必要性和内容做了分析。通过对环境管理手段关系的论述,构建了环境管理手段体系,对环境管理手段体系的目标、架构、作用和内容进行了分析论述,并研究了环境管理手段的选择与实施方法。     

Global Environment Facility investments in the phase-out of ozone-depleting substances

Stratospheric ozone depletion threatens human health and the global environment. In 1987, the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer (Montreal Protocol) set aggressive timelines for countries to phase-out products and organic chemicals that were causing rapid ozone depletion in the Antarctic stratosphere. The Global Environment Facility (GEF), established in 1991, is the largest multilateral funder of environmental protection projects and provides financial support for implementation of the Montreal Protocol. This paper summarizes GEF investments to address ozone-depleting substances (ODS) in Countries with Economies in Transition (CEITs), presents case studies from representative countries, and discusses lessons learned. Complementing the work of the Multilateral Fund that supports developing country Parties of the Montreal Protocol, the GEF provides financial support to CEIT’s to address ODS phase-out targets and timelines. These investments include technology development and transfer, outreach and training, institution building, and programs to phase-out ODS. Working with partners in the public and private sectors, the GEF has allocated approximately US210 million, leveraging another US210 million, leveraging another US250 million in co-financing, for 28 ODS phase-out projects in 18 CEITs. GEF ODS project investments in CEITs have contributed to Protocol success by phasing-out 20,000 ozone depletion potential (ODP) Megagrams (Mg) of consumption and 29,000 ODP Mg of production. Among the GEF’s most significant efforts to eliminate ODS are projects that transfer technologies and strengthen institutional capabilities of partner countries. These projects have enabled the installation of non-ODS technologies, adoption of best practices by the private sector, and provided CEITs with the legislative and policy framework necessary to sustain ODS phase-out. Almost 25 years after its establishment, the Montreal Protocol with support from financial mechanisms such as the GEF, is a successful model for addressing global environmental challenges.     

Contributing institutional factors of rural environmental pollution in the process of modernization in China —In the perspective of the efficiency of environmental management system

With the development of rural pollution, its characteristic and institutional factor should be studied for pollution control through economics and sociology. Based on the data gathered from investigations by several government sectors, rural environmental pollution can be divided into two types by its sources: internal source type and external source type. The internal source type is the main component of rural pollution at present, which can be further divided into three types. Research shows that the contributing institutional factors of rural pollution issues and the effectiveness of environmental management system over rural pollution can be summarized as distinctiveness. In essence, the rural pollution issue results from the dualism of rural and urban areas’ inadaptability to rural modernization. In detail, the contributing factors can be summed up on three institutional levels. There are obvious loopholes in rural environmental management system which, in the meantime, is incapable and inadaptable to rural pollution control. There exist similar questions in the related public service system, which are intensified by inappropriate reform which brought about incompatible incentive in the recent years. However, in the eleventh five-year plan period, there are advantageous trends in the three institutional levels. Main data sources in this paper: ➀ the surveys on TVEs (township and village enterprises) conducted by Township Enterprise Bureau of Ministry of Agriculture of China in 1997 and 2002; ➁ the partial survey on rural environmental conditions by EPA (environmental protection administration) of Zhejiang Province in 2002; ➂ the survey on the pollution of IPLFs (livestock and poultry farms) in 23 provinces, municipalities, and directly administered cities by the State Environmental Protection Administration of China in 2002; ➃ the research report on Mechanism of Investment and Financing for Environmental Protection by China Council for International Environment and Development Cooperation in 2003; ➄ the third investigation on national hygiene service in 2003; ➅ the regular monitoring of safe quality of agricultural products by the Ministry of Agriculture of China in 2005; ➆ the investigation arranged by the Ministry of Health which finished in 2007 and showed the total situation of rural environmental health and drinking water security of the whole country.     

A new post-Kyoto climate regime based on per-capita cumulative CO<Subscript>2</Subscript>-emission rights—rationale,architecture and quantitative assessment of the implication for the CO<Subscript>2</Subscript>-emissions from China,India and the Annex-I countries by 2050

Climate change is one of the most severe global problems in the 21st century. Main drivers are the combustion of fossil fuels, the emissions of industrial gases, emissions from agricultural sites and animal husbandry as well as deforestation. A new cooperative climate regime is necessary to meet the World’s energy and environmental problems against the background of China’s and India’s energy consumption growth. For the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol after 2012, a successor regime has to be agreed on. The current approaches, however, have a common weakness. They at the same time (a) do not acknowledge the historical responsibilities of the industrialized countries for the historical greenhouse gas emissions and the responsibility of developing countries for a large fraction of the current future emissions, and (b) do not provide for a fair distribution of emission rights. Against this background, this article aims at forecasting China’s and India's CO₂-emissions up to 2050 and developing a new suggestion for a post Kyoto climate regime based on a cumulated per capita CO₂-emission rights taking the weaknesses of the currently discussed post Kyoto approaches into account.     

环境公益诉讼原告的立法缺陷与完善

随着中国经济的迅速发展,许多侵害公众环境权益事件的频频发生,有些甚至造成了很大的社会影响和国际影响。建立环境公益诉讼制度迫切需要。但中国在环境公益诉讼原告的立法规定上存在缺陷,限制了环境公益诉讼的提起。应该赋予环境保护行政监督主管部门、检察机关、公民、环保社团的环境公益诉讼原告资格,通过环境公益诉讼原告资格的扩展,来维护我们公众的环境权益。     

环境公益诉讼

环境公益诉讼制度在保护环境方面是一项很重要的司法救济制度。不论是从环境侵权的现实发展角度,还是从环境公益诉讼的理论发展角度,我们都需要探索环境公益诉讼体制,来实现环境保护的社会目标。     

Insuring Southeast Asian commercial forests: Fire risk analysis and the potential for use of data in risk pricing and reduction of forest fire risk

The author uses his own data gleaned from over 10 years of commercial forestry insurance across the world to propose that despite a low intrinsic fire risk across most of Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia, commercial fire losses are unacceptably high, and could be reduced substantially within the current financial legal and political framework within which forestry companies operate. Opening with a statement about the dearth of forest fire loss data in the commercial sector, it is observed that the consequent inability of general insurers to estimate the rate of fire loss leads to very low insurance participation in forestry within Indonesia. A summary is then provided of the financial and environmental benefits of insurance participation in commercial forestry were this situation to be changed. A short discussion on risk perceptions is introduced to make the point that without reliable commercial forest fire loss data, risk perceptions of fire exposure in Southeast Asia by the financial sector, including insurers, is a barrier to risk transfer and investment. While real fire risk and perceived fire risk for Indonesia seem at present to be in agreement, the paper challenges that this should the case. Comparisons are made with different parts of the world with the knowledge that, in commercial terms, plantations in the low latitudes behave similarly everywhere in terms of fire causes, fire propagation factors, and characteristics of plantation or managed mixed forest fires. A review of the fire sizes within commercial forests is a good indicator of the efficiency of fire management strategies, and profiles from a high fire risk territory and Indonesia are compared. Using commercial and unidentified data the author then demonstrates that commercial growers in Indonesia have a high annual rate of forest fire loss and may also have a significant catastrophe fire exposure. This ‘cat’ exposure is far greater than for equivalent plantations in clearly higher fire risk environments. These conclusions are and should be discussed with forestry companies to change attitude and investment levels. Practical points for improved plantation fire management are made along with comments about the resources required. A parallel discussion then reviews fire risk assessment and management by the insurers to prevent their own ‘forest fire’ losses if they are to get further involved with the provision of Indonesian commercial forest risk transfer. The explanation of how insurers price risk within a portfolio helps identify the specific data needed for a proper risk management strategy to be developed.     

对上海的环境形势及环保工作重点的一些浅见

根据上海环境保护现状和未来发展的战略目标，分析了在经济高速、持续、稳定发展和社会主义市场经济发展中上海所面临的环境形势。提出了应以环境规划入手，加快环境法制建设，全面推行排污许可证制度，强化环境管理，切实有效工业污染，以及依靠科技进步和全面提高市民的环境参与意识等方面作为环境综合整治工作的重点。     

Financial adaptation to disaster risk in the European Union

Increasing losses from weather related extreme events coupled with limited coping capacity suggest a need for strong adaptation commitments, of which public sector responses to adjustments to actual and expected climate stimuli are key. The European Commission has started to address this need in the emerging European Union (EU) climate adaptation strategy; yet, a specific rationale for adaptation interventions has not clearly been identified, and the economic case for adaptation to extremes remains vague. Basing the diagnosis on economic welfare theory and an empirical analysis of the current EU and member states’ roles in managing disaster risk, we discuss how and where the public sector may intervene for managing climate variability and change. We restrict our analysis to financial disaster management, a domain of adaptation intervention, which is of key concern for the EU adaptation strategy. We analyse three areas of public sector interventions, supporting national insurance systems, providing compensation to the affected post event as well as intergovernmental loss sharing through the EU solidarity fund, according to the three government functions of allocation, distribution, and stabilization suggested by welfare theory, and suggest room for improvement.     

中国环境保护战略政策70年历史变迁与改革方向

系统地回顾了新中国成立70年以来环境保护战略政策的历史变迁,分析其演进脉络、阶段性变化特征和取得的成效,对于制定新时代国家生态环境保护战略政策、全面推进生态文明和"美丽中国"建设具有重大现实意义.以环境保护战略政策历史演进为主线,将新中国成立70年以来的环境保护战略政策历史变迁与发展划分为5个阶段:①非理性战略探索阶段（1949-1971年）;②建立环境保护三大政策和八项管理制度的环境保护基本国策（1972-1991年）;③强化重点流域、区域污染治理的可持续发展战略（1992-2000年）;④控制污染物排放总量、推进生态环境示范创建的环境友好型战略（2001-2012年）;⑤推进环境质量改善和"美丽中国"建设的生态文明战略（2013年至今）.分析表明,我国基本形成了符合国情且较为完善的环境战略政策体系,在生态文明和环境保护法制与体制改革、生态环境目标责任制、生态环境市场经济政策体系以及多元有效的生态环境治理格局下取得了重大成就,对环境保护事业发展发挥了不可替代的支撑作用,为深入推进生态文明建设和"美丽中国"伟大目标实现提供了重要保障.结合新时代生态文明建设和"美丽中国"建设的目标需求,提出了未来我国生态环境保护战略政策的基本走向、改革目标,指出了管理体制、生态法治、空间管控、市场机制、公众参与、责任考核等六大改革方向.      

企业环境信息公开的激励经济学研究

企业环境信息公开的意愿以及真实性成为了环境信息公开工作中面临的一个重要问题。本文从激励经济学的角度出发,分析了企业在环境信息公开过程中面临着的外部性内化、公众的逆向选择以及道德风险等问题,提出了政府主导,企业完善,多元参与的对策建议,以期实现环境保护与经济发展的"双赢"。     

地理信息系统在环境管理方面的应用

GIS可以从环境信息查询、统计分析、污染源管理、环境评价和模拟预测、环境功能区划、环保投诉、新建项目规划、突发性污染事故应急管理、环保专题图制作和公众参与等方面为环境管理提供服务，使隐藏在复杂关系下的众多因素变得清晰，可以随条件的改变通过模拟使用户看到结果。     

Some Lessons Learned from Public Health on the Process of Adaptation

Lessons learned from more than 150 years of public health research and intervention can provide insights to guide public health professionals and institutions as they design and implement specific strategies, policies, and measures to increase resilience to climate variability and change. This paper identifies both some modifications to public health systems that may enhance adaptive capacity, and lessons drawn from the history of managing environmental and other threats in the public health sector that may have relevance for other sectors as they design approaches to increase their adaptive capacity to more effectively cope with climate variability and change. The views expressed are the author’s own and do not represent official US EPA policy.