14
Z. Xie
targets. In order to significantly improve environmental quality, the Ministry of Environmental Protection established three new divisions for air, soil, and water quality
improvement respectively in 2017 to replace the pollution prevention division and
the gross pollutant control division, and the ministry’s core responsibility became the
management of air, soil and water quality with clearly defined targets. In 2018, The
Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Comprehensively
Strengthening Environmental Protection and Pollution Prevention and Control was
promulgated, setting out the overall environmental governance goals, which were to
improve the overall quality of the ecological environment, significantly reduce the
total amount of major pollutant discharge, effectively control environment risks, and
build an ecological civilization in line with the goal of completing the building of a
moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020.
Third, we should build an environment governance system that is led by the CPC
and the government, integrates the market mechanism and enlists the support of
the private sector and the public. Under this system, the CPC and the government
should share the same responsibilities for environmental governance and broad social
participation should be ensured to maximize the effectiveness of actions.
Before 2012, China focused on strengthening government leadership, corporate
participation, and unified supervision of environmental protection, but failed to pay
sufficient attention to corporate environmental responsibility and accountability. The
emphasis was on government control. The system failed to effectively leverage the
market mechanism and public participation lacked effective guidance. The problems of insufficient and excessive participation of the public coexisted. Therefore,
in the future, it is necessary to further emphasize the role of the market in resource
allocation, put into place effective economic incentives, and gradually form a coordinated governance pattern in which the government, the private sector, and the public
cooperate with and supervise one another.
In this pattern, what is the most important is a joint management mechanism that
emphasizes comprehensive coordination and promotes the clear definition of roles
and responsibilities of various players. Since its establishment, the country’s environmental governance authority has always been responsible for coordination for
the implementation of environmental protection strategies and various relevant tasks
across different authorities. The CPC and the government share responsibilities for
environmental governance and the leadership team of the environmental governance
agency are responsible for not only overseeing the performance of environmental
management-related tasks but also building an integrity culture among CPC members
in the agency (“yi gang liang ze”). These practices have historical origins. Starting
from the time of the Office of the Environmental Protection Leadership Group of the
State Council, all national environmental governance institutions primary responsibility of the national adopted this management approach. During 1984–1998, there
was the Environmental Protection Commission under the State Council, which was
headed by a vice premier of the State Council. During that period, the State Council
convened quarterly meetings to review and plan its work concerning environmental
protection. As the national environmental protection authority, the commission was
Z. Xie
targets. In order to significantly improve environmental quality, the Ministry of Environmental Protection established three new divisions for air, soil, and water quality
improvement respectively in 2017 to replace the pollution prevention division and
the gross pollutant control division, and the ministry’s core responsibility became the
management of air, soil and water quality with clearly defined targets. In 2018, The
Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Comprehensively
Strengthening Environmental Protection and Pollution Prevention and Control was
promulgated, setting out the overall environmental governance goals, which were to
improve the overall quality of the ecological environment, significantly reduce the
total amount of major pollutant discharge, effectively control environment risks, and
build an ecological civilization in line with the goal of completing the building of a
moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020.
Third, we should build an environment governance system that is led by the CPC
and the government, integrates the market mechanism and enlists the support of
the private sector and the public. Under this system, the CPC and the government
should share the same responsibilities for environmental governance and broad social
participation should be ensured to maximize the effectiveness of actions.
Before 2012, China focused on strengthening government leadership, corporate
participation, and unified supervision of environmental protection, but failed to pay
sufficient attention to corporate environmental responsibility and accountability. The
emphasis was on government control. The system failed to effectively leverage the
market mechanism and public participation lacked effective guidance. The problems of insufficient and excessive participation of the public coexisted. Therefore,
in the future, it is necessary to further emphasize the role of the market in resource
allocation, put into place effective economic incentives, and gradually form a coordinated governance pattern in which the government, the private sector, and the public
cooperate with and supervise one another.
In this pattern, what is the most important is a joint management mechanism that
emphasizes comprehensive coordination and promotes the clear definition of roles
and responsibilities of various players. Since its establishment, the country’s environmental governance authority has always been responsible for coordination for
the implementation of environmental protection strategies and various relevant tasks
across different authorities. The CPC and the government share responsibilities for
environmental governance and the leadership team of the environmental governance
agency are responsible for not only overseeing the performance of environmental
management-related tasks but also building an integrity culture among CPC members
in the agency (“yi gang liang ze”). These practices have historical origins. Starting
from the time of the Office of the Environmental Protection Leadership Group of the
State Council, all national environmental governance institutions primary responsibility of the national adopted this management approach. During 1984–1998, there
was the Environmental Protection Commission under the State Council, which was
headed by a vice premier of the State Council. During that period, the State Council
convened quarterly meetings to review and plan its work concerning environmental
protection. As the national environmental protection authority, the commission was