China’s Greening
13 May 2008 In the upcoming June issue of Farm Chemicals International, our China Report goes into depth on the changes to China’s environmental regulations and the impact that they have had on the chemical manufacturing industry. We also discuss what the future holds for the country, as several foreign companies have expressed doubt that China’s sudden commitment to environmentalism is authentic, or just a momentary fix with the Beijing Olympics focusing global attention on the country.
I recently had a conversation with Jia Hepeng, the China correspondent for the magazine Chemical World. Hepeng is based in China, and specializes in science and environmental issues. He gave us his take on the country’s new environmental legislation, and like us at FCI, he believes the new policies are here to stay. His view is here, in its entirety:
Yes, there are many new environmental laws, including, among others, these on waste water, food safety, food and drug recall, and so on. While some of them — especially those in Beijing — are related to Olympics, mostly, in my opinion, are not a result of preparing for the Games. They are among many similar regulations in recent years. According to a policy forum article published recently in Science (Science, 319, 37 (2008)), more than 100 environmental laws and regulations have been issued in China, so most of them are not directly related to Olympics.
From my feeling, the government is really serious in fighting pollutions. But this has been frustrated by the reluctance to implement in the local and sectoral levels, mainly because of economic interests. Heavy polluting industries are often highly profitable. In this situation, the implementation by adminsitrative levels — higher officials press lower officials, but often in individual cases — is often stronger. However, due to the incomplete information of the senior levels of officials, this effect could often be limited. For Olympics-related areas, the strength of implementation could often be very strong, but this does not mean the laws and regulations are simply for Olympics.
Like in the West, the policymaking process is often a result of balancing different interests. For example, the harsher pharamceutical waste emission rule had been proposed for long time but was not released until late last year. This is mainly because of the resistance of pharmaceutical sector. But the problem here is the power/interest struggle is not so transparent and less publicly participatory.
As for the post-Olympic situation, I think some policy implementation intensity might be weaker, but as a whole, the policies and regulations will not disappear. One encouraging thing could be that more people feel the benefits of the better environmental/safety situation and they are likely to continue requiring the continued implementation. Another good sign is now there is a more powerful environmental protection ministry. The third good result is although still very limited, more public voices are now involved and this is likely to be continued. But without institutional efforts — say, stronger public participation and a democractic way of expressing their concerns — the eventual result is still limited.
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