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Y. Wang
used for other purposes. The country still lacks a comprehensive vision for future
land and sea development. The supply of high-quality ecological goods and services
is insufficient, and the country’s forest stock per unit area is less than 80% of the
global average. The way we use our resources is still unsustainable. The energy
consumption per unit of GDP is still about twice the world average, and resource
productivity is far below the world average. Economic restructuring and relocation
of industries still face a lot of challenges, and technological innovation and industrial
competitiveness in the field of sustainable development remain relatively low.
The large gap between reality and expectation concerning environmental protection is a major issue to be tackled in China. First, current environmental protection
measures have not yet produced results up to the expectations of the general public.
Smog is common in big cities during winter and water pollution remains a prominent
problem seriously affecting Chinese people’s perception of what efforts have been
made. Second, the benefits of some ecological projects, such as projects concerning
ecosystem improvement, land use improvement, and efficient use of resources, are
not easily felt in people’s daily life. Third, the implementation of some environmental
policies, such as land trade and tree protection policies, may directly affect the vital
interests of some groups. Fourth, there is a gap between people’s need for rapid
improvement in environmental quality and their willingness to pay for it. The “notin-my-backyard” (NIMBY) attitude affects the process of economic restructuring
and urban transformation.
The eagerness for success during the transition period often leads to low effectiveness of actions. China is shifting its focus from development to environmental
protection now. The gradual transformation of ideas, systems, and actions is crucial
to solving environmental problems. However, this transition cannot be accomplished
overnight. It must go through a long process and be achieved in a systematic manner.
We must respect relevant rules and avoid seeking instant benefits. For example,
when the theoretical foundation remains weak, we should not over emphasize the
role of the environmental property rights market, including natural resource balance
sheets, emission rights trading market, water rights market, energy rights market, and
energy savings market. Market-based solutions have not really gained much success
worldwide due to barriers such as basic conditions, time and space constraints, and
inter-system conflicts.
China still has a long way to go before it could build an effective ecological civilization system. Fragmentation is a prominent problem. A long-term mechanism has
not yet been established, and we still need to work on coordination. The ecological
civilization system is still in its infancy, with many constraints and few incentives.
Some policy documents have just been promulgated but not yet implemented. Some
systems are difficult to build and are still in the pilot stage. It is difficult to coordinate
and balance between multiple stakeholders involved in some systems. Since some
systems are based on theoretical assumptions, the high transaction costs and a lack of
practical work pose big challenges. In addition, due to shortcomings of the accountability and fault tolerance mechanisms, “perfunctory” or “formalistic” behavior are
not uncommon in local authorities.
Y. Wang
used for other purposes. The country still lacks a comprehensive vision for future
land and sea development. The supply of high-quality ecological goods and services
is insufficient, and the country’s forest stock per unit area is less than 80% of the
global average. The way we use our resources is still unsustainable. The energy
consumption per unit of GDP is still about twice the world average, and resource
productivity is far below the world average. Economic restructuring and relocation
of industries still face a lot of challenges, and technological innovation and industrial
competitiveness in the field of sustainable development remain relatively low.
The large gap between reality and expectation concerning environmental protection is a major issue to be tackled in China. First, current environmental protection
measures have not yet produced results up to the expectations of the general public.
Smog is common in big cities during winter and water pollution remains a prominent
problem seriously affecting Chinese people’s perception of what efforts have been
made. Second, the benefits of some ecological projects, such as projects concerning
ecosystem improvement, land use improvement, and efficient use of resources, are
not easily felt in people’s daily life. Third, the implementation of some environmental
policies, such as land trade and tree protection policies, may directly affect the vital
interests of some groups. Fourth, there is a gap between people’s need for rapid
improvement in environmental quality and their willingness to pay for it. The “notin-my-backyard” (NIMBY) attitude affects the process of economic restructuring
and urban transformation.
The eagerness for success during the transition period often leads to low effectiveness of actions. China is shifting its focus from development to environmental
protection now. The gradual transformation of ideas, systems, and actions is crucial
to solving environmental problems. However, this transition cannot be accomplished
overnight. It must go through a long process and be achieved in a systematic manner.
We must respect relevant rules and avoid seeking instant benefits. For example,
when the theoretical foundation remains weak, we should not over emphasize the
role of the environmental property rights market, including natural resource balance
sheets, emission rights trading market, water rights market, energy rights market, and
energy savings market. Market-based solutions have not really gained much success
worldwide due to barriers such as basic conditions, time and space constraints, and
inter-system conflicts.
China still has a long way to go before it could build an effective ecological civilization system. Fragmentation is a prominent problem. A long-term mechanism has
not yet been established, and we still need to work on coordination. The ecological
civilization system is still in its infancy, with many constraints and few incentives.
Some policy documents have just been promulgated but not yet implemented. Some
systems are difficult to build and are still in the pilot stage. It is difficult to coordinate
and balance between multiple stakeholders involved in some systems. Since some
systems are based on theoretical assumptions, the high transaction costs and a lack of
practical work pose big challenges. In addition, due to shortcomings of the accountability and fault tolerance mechanisms, “perfunctory” or “formalistic” behavior are
not uncommon in local authorities.