Distinguished delegates and participants,
It is a great pleasure for me to participate in this conference and I would like to thank our hosts for organizing this important event.
As you have heard from Mr. Xie, China faces many important challenges as it protects its environment and natural resource base into the next century. However, under the guidance of the Government and of the National Environment Protection Agency, China is taking many bold steps to protect its environment. These include technical, engineering, legal, financial and institutional steps.
Technical steps include strengthening the cadre of scientists and researchers and updating technology.
Engineering steps include investments in water supply, waste treatment and afforestation.
Legal steps include the development of laws and circulars, the signing of international conventions, and the strengthening of environmental administrative agencies.
Financial steps include the allocation of funds to environmental projects, and t he development of fees and charges and economic incentives in some sectors.
Institutional measures include the clarification of the roles and mandates of agencies, the establishment of intersectoral agencies, the development of environmental bodies at many layers of Government, and the high level support given to environmental protection and sustainable development by the Chinese Government.
Building on these, the Ninth Five-Year Plan for Environmental Protection sets ambitious targets for China's environment. To achieve these, the Plan sets out Major Policies and Principles, Major Tasks and Measures, and Investment Requirements. One of the principle implementation mechanisms is the Trans-century Green Project Plan. This consists of over 1,500 individual investment projects, which will comprehensively protect and improve environmental resources in China. It has a particular focus on three important rivers, three lakes, and the areas in southern China impacted by acid rain. We believe the Trans-century Green Plan is a very important initiative which, if properly implemented, could contribute greatly to t he protection of China's air, water, vegetation and other natural resources, and ensure an improved quality of life for the Chinese people in the next century.
I would bike to take a few moments of your time to briefly outline UNDP's approach to supporting China's environmental protection activities. In line with the Major Guiding Principles and Policies of the Plan, we believe that substantial environmental gains can be obtained in a cost effective manner through key policy interventions. Accordingly the following 'policy' elements underlie all of our environmental protection activities in China:
1. Reforming the price structure for natural resources, in line with environment al and economic costs.
2. Reforming the state's administrative and management structure to ensure improved compliance with relevant environmental laws and regulations.
3. Moving from supply side to demand side for energy management and pollution control.
4. Improving local and enterprise management considerations.
5. Mobilizing resources, from enterprises, joint ventures and communities to sup port environmental initiatives.
6. In creasing the focus of environmental programmes in on the poor and marginalised areas rather than on the rapidly developing eastern and coastal provinces.
Our activities fall into four mutually reinforcing sectors:
1) environmental governance,
2) sustainable energy development,
3) pollution prevention and control, and
4) natural resources management.
These sectors correspond with the Major Tasks identified in Ninth Five-Year Plan. I would like to give you just one example of work we are undertaking in each o f these sectors.
Environmental Governance:
After the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, UNDP established a Capacity 21 Fund to support governments in the development of national capacity to implement Agenda 21, strategy for sustainable development; and to develop an action plan for implementation, including a resource mobilization strategy. Since 1995, UNDP has been continuing to assist the Government to implement its Agenda 21 programme with various projects assisting a t the national, sectoral ministry and municipal levels.
Sustainable Energy development:
This has been a major focus of UNDP assistance to China for the past 15 years. During the period 1991-1996, UNDP and the Government initiated a US$27 million programme promoting efficient and environmentally sound coal utilization in China. The programme consisted of eight interrelated projects and aimed at promoting clean coal technologies. The project addressed different problems associated with either coal exploitation or use indifferent sites in China. For example one project focused on recovering and purifying toxic by-products from town gas and coking plants. In the Beijing area, this led to a greater supply of cleaner town gases, reduced waste from the production of benzene and improved cement quality.
Pollution Prevention and Control:
In 1996 the Government of China and UNDP initiated a national programme for air pollution control in China. The programme consists of six projects, including five projects directed at separate, but complementary aspects of air pollution and one programme support project to coordinate and disseminate the results. In Guiyang Zhou (Guangdong) and Beijing the focus is on NOx emissions, particularly from vehicles in Xi'an (Shaanxi) the focus is particulate emissions from industry. In Guiyang (Guizhou) it is SO2 emissions from power plants which cause acid rain. In Benxi we are adopting an integrated approach to air pollution through cleaner production techniques and industrial restructuring. One of the main objectives of the overall programme is to conduct detailed emission inventory and to provide support systems to municipal decision-makers in order to increase their capacity to incorporate air pollution considerations into investment and policy decision-making.
Natural Rescues Management:
An initiative under development is to focus on the conservation of wetland biodiversity in China. The objective of this UNDP\GEF programme will be to introduce innovative approaches for wetland biodiversity conservation and sustainable use in four pilot sites and develop capacity for their widespread dissemination in China. Together with the Ministry of Forestry, we are currently in the process selecting sites and formulating the programme; it is expected to start in the second half of 1998
During the period 1996-2000,UNDP intends to provide over ＄70million of grants from its core funds to China, and approximately 25% of this will be allocated to the Environment and Sustainable Energy Programme. In addition to these projects with UNDP funds, another important aspect of UNDP's work is to assist national organizations to access additional financial resources. These resources include the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and the Multilateral Fund for the Montreal protocol (MP). These funds contribute to sustainable development in China as well as helping China to meet its international obligations.
Finally I would like to say a few words on the role of the private sector in environmental protection. UNDP recognizes the importance of this role, Many of our projects in China actively promote this. This notably involves the development o f proposals suitable for private investment, and the defining of institutional and financial frameworks, which encourage investors. For example, you may have heard of the promising recent developments in "fuel cell" technology. This technology is clean and potentially economically efficient. UNDP is helping to identify investors in commercially operated fleets of fuel-cell buses for Chinese Localities, and to develop supportive framework for the future introduction of buses in China utilizing this relatively clean technology.
Thank you for listening to my overview of the work UNDP is supporting in China. I will now conclude by congratulating NEPA on the organization of this conference, and by wishing the conference success.
Thank you.