The Council is impressed by the progress made by China in the field of environment and development since its second meeting in Hangzhou in May 1993. It is most grateful to the Secretary General, Mr. Xie Zhenhua for his report on the subject. It particularly commends the Government's White Paper - China's Agenda 21 - on China's Population, Environment and Development in the 21st Century. Its implementation will form part of an effort by the world community as a whole.
The Council continues to believe that protection of the environment and promotion of development are complementary. It lays emphasis on the need for greater public understanding of the principal issues and for fuller public participation in activities related to them. There is no higher priority than public education and capacity building. The Council recognizes the importance of environmental considerations in sustainable development, and their central place in all decisions affecting the economy. It particularly welcomes the three year plan to improve relevant legislation and its enforcement. In the words of Vice Premier Qian Qichen in his opening address to the Council, China "must not repeat the old pattern of pollution first and environment control second".
The Council heard reports from its six Working Groups and commends their broad conclusions. On this basis and in the light of debate at the Council, it wishes to make the following specific recommendations. The list is not exclusive. In the future particular attention should be paid to the problems of transportation and water.
1. As always energy is critical to China's development. Present dependence on coal remains a prime cause of pollution and could have global consequences. It is necessary:
- to improve energy saving, conservation and distribution; diversify China's energy sources; and develop alternative technologies, especially cleaner coal and greater end-use efficiency. Full use should be made of demonstration projects;
- to promote competition in clean technologies in the areas of, for example, steel making, commercial buildings, fuel cell powered buses, coal and biomass gasification, and cogeneration in the sugar cane industry;
- to ensure that policy on energy and the environment are fully integrated;
- to join in the international effort required to give effect to the Framework Convention on Climate Change.
2. The continued destruction of biodiversity in China is doing major damage to the economy and is likely to get worse. In giving effect to the Government's Biodiversity Action Plan, it is necessary:
- fully to enforce existing legislation to protect existing protected areas and to extend them where possible;
- to cooperate still more closely with neighbouring countries to prevent trade in endangered species;
- to develop a coordinated biodiversity monitoring programme;
- to undertake a major educational campaign on the importance of biodiversity;
- to work with local communities to restore degraded land and habitats.
3. Control of pollution requires detailed knowledge which can only be gained through rigorous monitoring. It must form part of integrated environmental policy planning which in turn must form part of economic planning as a whole. It is necessary:
- to put sufficient resources into monitoring;
- to establish a sound data base on environmental quality with projections for the future;
- to focus on clean technologies and clean production methods;
- to ensure better coordination between local, provincial and national authorities with a staff training programme;
- to make more and better use of such policy instruments as licenses, levies, fees, incentives and disincentives;
- to set priorities for action in meeting the specific goals in the area identified in China's Agenda 21 report;
- to draw upon the experience and up-to-date technologies of industrial countries, while recognising cost factors, with the aim of reducing further damage to the environement.
4. Better accounting for resources and measures to ensure the inclusion of environmental considerations in costing and pricing require a new theoretical as well as practical approach. It is necessary:
- to elaborate the theoretical aspects;
- in the meantime to increase charges on pollution and develop use of economic and fiscal instruments;
- to introduce environmental impact assessments more widely on existing as well as new projects;
- gradually to reform prices on such vital natural resources as water, timber and coal, and to remove inappropriate subsidies;
- to pursue the practical implications of price reform in such area as energy and transport;
- to examine the role of the environment in international trade.
The good health of the environment in a country as large and populous as China is the good health of the world as a whole. In dealing with global environmental problems, the particular responsibility of the industrial countries is clear. But all countries, including China, are vulnerable to environmental change and international cooperation is essential. With its special importance, China can give leadership, as it has done over Agenda 21, in taking action on the linked problems of environment and development.