context: Environmental protection is a key part of Xi Jinping’s overall focus on governance reform, stressed at the Central Committee 4th Plenum. This much-anticipated policy document embodies changes in the way the state perceives and restructures environmental regulations, rooted in a fundamental shift in how the state envisions the relationship between man and nature (i.e., ecological civilisation), including developing long-term structural solutions and promoting environment as part of the high-quality growth. This top-level policy showcases the state’s long-term commitment to environmental protection.
CCP Central Committee and State Council issued ‘Guidelines on building modern environmental governance system’, specifying
- targets
- by 2025, setting up an effective, sound and interactive environmental governance system that
- stresses
- responsibilities of corporations and governments at all levels
- participation of citizens
- enhances environmental supervision, legislation, market operation and credit scoring
- stresses
- by 2025, setting up an effective, sound and interactive environmental governance system that
- state responsibilities
- improving government working structures in which
- CCP Central Committee and State Council oversee overall planning and goals, and formulate Party and state institutions’ environmental protection responsibilities
- provincial governments take overall responsibility
- city and county-level governments are in charge of implementation
- clarifying central and local governments’ respective spending responsibilities
- rolling out evaluation
- deepening environmental inspection
- improving government working structures in which
- corporate responsibilities
- implementing pollutant discharge permit
- greening production and services
- improving pollution treatment
- disclosing environmental treatment information
- citizens’ participation
- strengthening public supervision
- enhancing involvement of social groups
- improving citizens’ environmental literacy
- environmental supervision
- strengthening enforcement, legal support and monitoring capacity
- environmental market
- building a transparent and fair market
- boosting environmental industry
- scaling up innovation in critical technologies and products
- fostering a number of leading firms
- supporting a number of specialised SMEs
- promoting third-party pollution treatment
- improving pricing mechanisms based on ‘polluter pays’ principle
- environmental credit scoring
- strengthening government affairs integrity building
- improving corporate environmental credit evaluation
- environmental legislation
- improving laws, regulations and standards
- enhancing fiscal, tax and financing support
- ensuring sustained and stable funding from central and local governments
- improving ecological compensation scheme
- releasing policies conducive to upgrading industry, energy, transport and land use structures
- strictly enforcing Environmental Protection Tax Law
- setting up a national green development fund
- promoting environmental liability insurance, which should be mandatory in regions with high environmental risks
- encouraging major environmental equipment leasing
- speeding up building provincial soil pollution prevention and control funds
- standardising green bonds