The Rise of a Green Society
467
After the new Law on Environmental Protection, considered “most stringent in
history,” officially came into force in January 2015, a long list of important documents have been rolled out, including the Opinions on Accelerating the Development of Ecological Civilization, Methods of Public Participation in Environmental
Protection, Plan for Inspection and Supervision of Environmental Protection (Trial),
Methods of Holding Party and Government Leaders Accountable for Environmental
Damages (Trial), Master Plan for Institutional Reform for Ecological Civilization,
Guiding Opinions on Pilot Implementation of Vertical Management Reform of the
Monitoring, Inspection and Law Enforcement by Environmental Protection Agencies
under Provincial Level, Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan (commonly
known as “10-Chapter Air Pollution Action Plan”, Water Pollution Prevention and
Control Action Plan (commonly known as “10-Chapter Water Pollution Action
Plan”), Soil Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan (commonly known as
“10-Chapter Soil Pollution Action Plan”), Action Plan for Soil Pollution Prevention
and Control, Reform Plan for Environmental Damage Compensation System, and
Several Opinions on Delimiting and Observing the Red Line of Ecological Protection. Ecological civilization is also included in the 13th Five-year Plan. In particular,
after the inspection and supervision mechanism was established based on the Plan
for Inspection and Supervision of Environmental Protection (Trial), the central environmental protection authority has completed the first round of inspection in full
coverage. According to the Bulletin of Environmental Situation in China issued by
the Ministry of Ecology and Environment in 2017, this round of inspection saw more
than 18,000 Party and government leaders held accountable, handled 135,000 environmental complaints made by the public, and directly pushed for the solution of over
80,000 environmental problems immediately concerning the people. In 2017 alone,
environmental inspectors held talks with 30 cities (counties and districts) departments and units, imposed administrative punishment on 233,000 cases nationwide,
and imposed fines totaling RMB 11.58 billion, up 265% from 2014 before the new
Law on Environmental Protection was promulgated. As a matter of fact, the increasingly rigorous and meticulous institutional design and execution has transmitted
the pressure of environmental protection from the central level to local level, from
government to enterprises, and from the state to individuals. The green storm waged
by the Party and the government to supervise government and business behaviors
in environmental protection is blazing a Chinese path of composite environmental
governance. Such proactive adjustment and action is intrinsically inevitable for the
Party and the government that always center their work on people’s interests.
Fifth, in face of environmental deterioration, people’s changed consumption preference and government regulation and governance, businesses have seen new opportunities to make profits and displayed a more obvious green tendency. The accelerated
development of new industries, business forms, modes and products is boosting social
changes while meeting new needs. China has kept increasing its environmental input
since the reform and opening-up, which for the first time accounted for more than
1% of GDP in 1999 and rose to 3.5% during the 12th Five-year Plan period, giving a
strong boost to the rapid development of environmental protection industry. In 2000,
467
After the new Law on Environmental Protection, considered “most stringent in
history,” officially came into force in January 2015, a long list of important documents have been rolled out, including the Opinions on Accelerating the Development of Ecological Civilization, Methods of Public Participation in Environmental
Protection, Plan for Inspection and Supervision of Environmental Protection (Trial),
Methods of Holding Party and Government Leaders Accountable for Environmental
Damages (Trial), Master Plan for Institutional Reform for Ecological Civilization,
Guiding Opinions on Pilot Implementation of Vertical Management Reform of the
Monitoring, Inspection and Law Enforcement by Environmental Protection Agencies
under Provincial Level, Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan (commonly
known as “10-Chapter Air Pollution Action Plan”, Water Pollution Prevention and
Control Action Plan (commonly known as “10-Chapter Water Pollution Action
Plan”), Soil Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan (commonly known as
“10-Chapter Soil Pollution Action Plan”), Action Plan for Soil Pollution Prevention
and Control, Reform Plan for Environmental Damage Compensation System, and
Several Opinions on Delimiting and Observing the Red Line of Ecological Protection. Ecological civilization is also included in the 13th Five-year Plan. In particular,
after the inspection and supervision mechanism was established based on the Plan
for Inspection and Supervision of Environmental Protection (Trial), the central environmental protection authority has completed the first round of inspection in full
coverage. According to the Bulletin of Environmental Situation in China issued by
the Ministry of Ecology and Environment in 2017, this round of inspection saw more
than 18,000 Party and government leaders held accountable, handled 135,000 environmental complaints made by the public, and directly pushed for the solution of over
80,000 environmental problems immediately concerning the people. In 2017 alone,
environmental inspectors held talks with 30 cities (counties and districts) departments and units, imposed administrative punishment on 233,000 cases nationwide,
and imposed fines totaling RMB 11.58 billion, up 265% from 2014 before the new
Law on Environmental Protection was promulgated. As a matter of fact, the increasingly rigorous and meticulous institutional design and execution has transmitted
the pressure of environmental protection from the central level to local level, from
government to enterprises, and from the state to individuals. The green storm waged
by the Party and the government to supervise government and business behaviors
in environmental protection is blazing a Chinese path of composite environmental
governance. Such proactive adjustment and action is intrinsically inevitable for the
Party and the government that always center their work on people’s interests.
Fifth, in face of environmental deterioration, people’s changed consumption preference and government regulation and governance, businesses have seen new opportunities to make profits and displayed a more obvious green tendency. The accelerated
development of new industries, business forms, modes and products is boosting social
changes while meeting new needs. China has kept increasing its environmental input
since the reform and opening-up, which for the first time accounted for more than
1% of GDP in 1999 and rose to 3.5% during the 12th Five-year Plan period, giving a
strong boost to the rapid development of environmental protection industry. In 2000,