South China Morning Post
Jun Mai
September 11, 2015
Geese at Serling Co National Nature Reserve in Tibet. Beijing has approved a ‘masterplan’ to protect the environment. Photo: Xinhua
Beijing has approved a masterplan for environmental protection reforms that deals with economic incentives, property rights for natural resources, land planning, officials’ performance appraisals, and law enforcement.
The blueprint approved by the Communist Party’s Politburo yesterday follows the party’s pledge in late 2013 to nurture back to health the environment after decades of breakneck economic development.
The Politburo said institutional reforms for environmental protection were “indispensable”. “The country should respect nature, adjust to nature and protect nature. Economic development and environmental protection should be coordinated.”
It said a framework was needed for such reforms and called for a clear ownership system for natural resources and systems for “compensation, evaluation and responsibility”.
The Politburo said fines for polluting companies should better reflect the scarcity of natural resources.
Writing in Caixin Weekly in July, Yin Yanlin, a bureau chief at the general office of the Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs, argued that such reform was necessary, as land, water and certain mineral resources were priced far below the market rate.
He said economic measures such as taxation and levying fees could be used to better charge polluters.
The masterplan envisages involving “multiple parties” in protecting the environment, as well as taking a more proactive approach to international partnerships on environmental issues.
“Multiple parties include the government, companies, the public and community groups,” said Wang Jinnan, deputy director of the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning, under the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
Chang Jiwen, an environmental academic at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in the past China had often acted on environment issues only when pressured by the international community.
“Now it will take more proactive steps,” Chang said.
