Efforts, Experience in and Inspiration of Environmental …
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control was effectively combined with agriculture and farmers. From the top-level
design for comprehensive improvement of rural environment to supporting policies
in specific areas such as sources of drinking water, domestic garbage and sewage,
pollution from the livestock breeding sector and the use of fertilizers and pesticides,
green development and building a beautiful and livable countryside, became the
major goals of environmental protection in rural areas.
2 Institutions for Environmental Protection in Rural Areas
and Relevant Difficulties
It can be seen from the evolution of policies that the central government pays high
attention to environmental protection in rural areas and that notable results have
been achieved over the past years. However, environmental protection in rural areas
remains an arduous task. Across the country, 40% of villages have no garbage treating
facilities, and 78% do nothing to treat wastewater. To further explore paths to build
institutions for pollution control in rural areas, this paper does analysis from the
angles of national policy, departmental regulations and technical standards.
In regard to national policies, the core of institutions for environmental governance in rural areas is reward-based environmental governance. It is about incentives. The central authorities allocate special funds as rewards to encourage local
governments to work on rural environment protection and increase input in this field.
The following-up policy on improving the living environment in rural areas is also
at the core, but it does not take the place of reward-based governance. The policy of
improving the living environment in rural areas is more inclusive and brings more
benefits to the people. Instead of focusing only on environmental issues, environmental protection in rural areas also cover public facilities, living conditions and
sanitary conditions. However, early work mainly focused on waste treatment in rural
areas. In 2018, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council released a plan
for rural revitalization. In a systematic approach, efforts were made to build rural
areas with thriving businesses, pleasant living environments, social etiquette and
civility, effective governance, and prosperity. The plan provides an effective institutional support to push green agricultural development and continuously improve
living environments in rural areas.
As for departmental regulations, environmental protection in rural areas involves
departments in charge of agriculture, environmental protection, water resources,
housing and urban-rural planning, land and resources and health. Every department
issues regulations for a specific area within their scope of responsibilities, resulting
in fragmentation and a waste of resources. Two environmental governance policies
had comparatively wider coverage. The first is about contiguous polluted rural areas,
rolled out by the former Ministry of Environmental Protection, and the other is
the beautiful countryside initiative launched by the former Ministry of Agriculture.
The former aimed to advance the policy of reward-based environmental governance,
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control was effectively combined with agriculture and farmers. From the top-level
design for comprehensive improvement of rural environment to supporting policies
in specific areas such as sources of drinking water, domestic garbage and sewage,
pollution from the livestock breeding sector and the use of fertilizers and pesticides,
green development and building a beautiful and livable countryside, became the
major goals of environmental protection in rural areas.
2 Institutions for Environmental Protection in Rural Areas
and Relevant Difficulties
It can be seen from the evolution of policies that the central government pays high
attention to environmental protection in rural areas and that notable results have
been achieved over the past years. However, environmental protection in rural areas
remains an arduous task. Across the country, 40% of villages have no garbage treating
facilities, and 78% do nothing to treat wastewater. To further explore paths to build
institutions for pollution control in rural areas, this paper does analysis from the
angles of national policy, departmental regulations and technical standards.
In regard to national policies, the core of institutions for environmental governance in rural areas is reward-based environmental governance. It is about incentives. The central authorities allocate special funds as rewards to encourage local
governments to work on rural environment protection and increase input in this field.
The following-up policy on improving the living environment in rural areas is also
at the core, but it does not take the place of reward-based governance. The policy of
improving the living environment in rural areas is more inclusive and brings more
benefits to the people. Instead of focusing only on environmental issues, environmental protection in rural areas also cover public facilities, living conditions and
sanitary conditions. However, early work mainly focused on waste treatment in rural
areas. In 2018, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council released a plan
for rural revitalization. In a systematic approach, efforts were made to build rural
areas with thriving businesses, pleasant living environments, social etiquette and
civility, effective governance, and prosperity. The plan provides an effective institutional support to push green agricultural development and continuously improve
living environments in rural areas.
As for departmental regulations, environmental protection in rural areas involves
departments in charge of agriculture, environmental protection, water resources,
housing and urban-rural planning, land and resources and health. Every department
issues regulations for a specific area within their scope of responsibilities, resulting
in fragmentation and a waste of resources. Two environmental governance policies
had comparatively wider coverage. The first is about contiguous polluted rural areas,
rolled out by the former Ministry of Environmental Protection, and the other is
the beautiful countryside initiative launched by the former Ministry of Agriculture.
The former aimed to advance the policy of reward-based environmental governance,