Changes in Environmental Policy in the Past 40 Years of Reform …
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into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally
advanced, harmonious, and beautiful by mid-twenty-first century. China will not only
rise as a great country in the world in terms of its industrial, economic, and ecological
development, but also make a unique contribution to global development. Chinese
ideas, Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions will provide inspirations for developing
countries seeking to embark on the path towards green development and prosperity.
First, China will deepen the reform of the environment governance system in
order to meet the requirements of a beautiful China.
The reform of China’s environmental governance system will not be accomplished
overnight, nor will it be a once-and-for-all solution. China need to further advance
functional transformation, improve efficiency, and strengthen mechanism innovation
and capacity building. (1) China should further improve its environmental governance system by accelerating functional transformation, clarifying responsibilities,
promoting the modernization of the system and building governance capabilities.
It should continue to clarify the responsibilities of government authorities, especially in regard to environmental supervision, climate change response, regulation
of the nature reserve system, establishment and development of regional and river
basin management authorities, and the allocation of power and financial resources
between central and local levels. (2) China should accelerate the integration and transformation of relevant functions within environmental governance authorities. With
the aim of continuously improving environment quality, efforts should be made to
better define and clarify the interrelationships between various systems and highlight
core systems. Synergy should be formed between conventional pollution prevention
and control and climate change response, and the accountability system should be
strengthened for local governments. Also, efforts should be made to improve the
ability to respond to institutional changes, step up the efforts to build a nature reserve
system with national parks at its core, and promote the reform towards a national
park system. (3) China should strengthen mechanism building and innovation, integrate different functions concerning the development of ecological civilization, and
improve the efficiency of relevant systems. Establishing a ministry to take charge of
environmental governance in the country can solve problems concerning the coordination across different environmental factors, but it is necessary to build an effective
mechanism to balance between environment management, natural resource management and economic development. It is recommended that the central government
create an institution to oversee the development of ecological civilization, formulate
green development strategies, roadmaps, and timetables, and set priorities for the
various relevant issues. (4) China should step the effort to build a modern environment governance system. It should move towards a coordinated governance pattern
in which the government, enterprises, and the public cooperate with and supervise
one another, so that centralized government management of natural resources and
independent environmental monitoring can truly be effective. It should continue to
improve market-based environmental protection, stimulate the vitality of market entities, and encourage NGOs and the public to participate in environment management
and monitoring, (5) China should comprehensively strengthen capacity building in
17
into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally
advanced, harmonious, and beautiful by mid-twenty-first century. China will not only
rise as a great country in the world in terms of its industrial, economic, and ecological
development, but also make a unique contribution to global development. Chinese
ideas, Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions will provide inspirations for developing
countries seeking to embark on the path towards green development and prosperity.
First, China will deepen the reform of the environment governance system in
order to meet the requirements of a beautiful China.
The reform of China’s environmental governance system will not be accomplished
overnight, nor will it be a once-and-for-all solution. China need to further advance
functional transformation, improve efficiency, and strengthen mechanism innovation
and capacity building. (1) China should further improve its environmental governance system by accelerating functional transformation, clarifying responsibilities,
promoting the modernization of the system and building governance capabilities.
It should continue to clarify the responsibilities of government authorities, especially in regard to environmental supervision, climate change response, regulation
of the nature reserve system, establishment and development of regional and river
basin management authorities, and the allocation of power and financial resources
between central and local levels. (2) China should accelerate the integration and transformation of relevant functions within environmental governance authorities. With
the aim of continuously improving environment quality, efforts should be made to
better define and clarify the interrelationships between various systems and highlight
core systems. Synergy should be formed between conventional pollution prevention
and control and climate change response, and the accountability system should be
strengthened for local governments. Also, efforts should be made to improve the
ability to respond to institutional changes, step up the efforts to build a nature reserve
system with national parks at its core, and promote the reform towards a national
park system. (3) China should strengthen mechanism building and innovation, integrate different functions concerning the development of ecological civilization, and
improve the efficiency of relevant systems. Establishing a ministry to take charge of
environmental governance in the country can solve problems concerning the coordination across different environmental factors, but it is necessary to build an effective
mechanism to balance between environment management, natural resource management and economic development. It is recommended that the central government
create an institution to oversee the development of ecological civilization, formulate
green development strategies, roadmaps, and timetables, and set priorities for the
various relevant issues. (4) China should step the effort to build a modern environment governance system. It should move towards a coordinated governance pattern
in which the government, enterprises, and the public cooperate with and supervise
one another, so that centralized government management of natural resources and
independent environmental monitoring can truly be effective. It should continue to
improve market-based environmental protection, stimulate the vitality of market entities, and encourage NGOs and the public to participate in environment management
and monitoring, (5) China should comprehensively strengthen capacity building in