Environmental policy in China
[2] In response to public pressure, the national government has undertaken a number of measures to curb pollution in China and improve the country's environmental situation.
[3] In and before the 2010s, the government's response was criticized as inadequate;[4] encouraged by national policy that judged regions primarily by their economic development, corrupt and unwilling local authorities hampered enforcement.
[11]: 26 After investigating, government scientists attributed much of the cause for flooding to upstream deforestation that had occurred during logging booms in the previous two decades.
[19]: 85 Responding both to scientific evidence on the environment and increasing public pressure, the Party began to re-formulate its ideology to recognize that the developmentalist approach during reform and opening up was not sustainable.
project, where China's gross domestic product was adjusted to compensate for negative environmental effects; however, the program quickly lost official influence due to unfavorable data.
[29]: 91 The Decision established a 670 billion cubic meters limit for annual water consumption, to be broken down in turn per industry, region, and products.
Sixteen of the protesters were sentenced to between twelve and eighteen months in prison; however, thirteen were granted a reprieve on the grounds that they had confessed and repented.
[33] In response to an increasing air pollution problem, the Chinese government announced a five-year, US$277 billion plan to address the issue in 2013.
[12]: 227 Lawmaker Xin Chunying called the law "a heavy blow [in the fight against] our country's harsh environmental realities, and an important systemic construct".
[40] During the opening session of the Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping described pollution control as one of "Three Critical Battles" (along with poverty alleviation and de-risking).
[36]: 1 In 2019, the MEE established the Belt and Road Initiative International Green Development Coalition as a joint project with the environmental agencies of twenty-five other countries.
[46]: 149 With the 11th Five-Year Plan, China introduced binding administrative targets which have been especially used in non-economic policy areas like environmental protection and land management.
[40] The CCP views solar technology production as dovetailing with its ambitions to transform China's economy toward higher value-added goods and services.
[51] China’s rapid urbanization and industrialization have contributed to environmental challenges, including increased greenhouse gas emissions, higher energy consumption, and pollution.
[50] By leveraging green technologies, sustainable infrastructure, and eco-friendly practices, Chinese eco-cities seek to reduce carbon emissions, enhance resource efficiency, and improve the quality of life for urban residents.
[6] It remains to be seen whether these changes to the law will overcome some of the traditional problems with environmental litigation in China, such as difficulty getting cases accepted by the court, trouble gathering evidence and interference from local government.
Individuals are encouraged to "adopt a low-carbon and frugal lifestyle and perform environmental protection duties" such as recycling their garbage under the law.
It is assigned relatively less power and fewer employees than other existing ministries, which results in its heavy dependence on local environmental protection bureaus (EPB).
[71] In January 2013, fine airborne particulates rose as high as 993 micrograms per cubic meter in Beijing, compared with World Health Organization guidelines of no more than 25.
[72] Heavy industry, dominated by state-owned enterprises, has been promoted since the beginning of central planning and still has many special privileges such as access to cheap energy and loans.
[74] At the end of October 2018, the Chinese government has issued the Atmospheric Pollution Prevention and Control Law (2018 Amendment),[75] which will be implemented starting immediately.
The new amendment has clearly stated out that enterprises of iron and steel, building materials, non-ferrous metals, petroleum, and chemical industry that discharge dust, sulfide, and nitrogen oxides in the course of production shall adopt cleaner production processes, construct dust-removing, desulfurization, and denitrification equipment in a complete set, or adopt technological transformation and other measures to control the discharge of air pollutants.
Desertification has long reaching consequences, resulting in ecological degradation, halting local economic development, as well as damaging the health of residents in the affected area.
Devegetation brought about by unfavourable hydrologic conditions, climate change induced droughts, as well as unsustainable human activities such as overgrazing, agriculture, and deforestation,[89] exposes the soil to frequent water and wind erosion, creating desert.
Laws are passed to prevent logging, agriculture, and animal grazing in locations of high desertification risk, establishing these areas as ecological function reserves.
Since 1999, The Ministry of Forestry has been providing monetary rewards for farmers who plant trees instead of crops, as well as auctioning away national land to individuals to rehabilitate for economic gains.
By December 3, 2006, the coral mine created 700,000 hectares of land subsidence nationwide and total damage worth 50 billion yuan.
Since the 1990s, oil prospectors have successively discovered petroleum reservoirs of different sizes such as Kela 2, Hotanhe, Yaha, Yangtuke, Yingmai 7, Yudong 2, in the western part of the Tarim basin.
One executive interviewed said that China's environmental regulations were “comprehensive” but yet “vague,” leaving local officials with large discretion in terms of enforcement.
If executives think local officials may arbitrarily target their enterprises for enforcement, they are likely to adopt proactive practices, such as “developing certifiable environmental management systems,” but not basic ones, such as waste recycling.
