1. Summary
All Working Groups, inc1uding the new Task Force on Forest and Grassland, were r epresented, along with the Task Force on Economic Planning and Environmental Pro tection. Severa1 members of the Counci1 were present, including Vice-Chair Len G ood, plus the Secretary General and Project Director of the Secretariat Canadian Office. The meeting provided an opportunity for each working group to summarize activities, their proposed future directions, and coordination opportunities. The Co-chairs also identified several major themes where they felt CCICED might dev ote more attention in the future. There was a fruitful exchange of views on the draft recommendations paper and on how recommendations not directly related to t he Western Development Strategy might be brought forward. Consideration was give n to the Self-Assessment Report, especially to those observations pertinent to Wo rking Groups. The meeting concluded with a discussion of the future of the Counc il and funding needs of Working Groups.
2. Progress in coordination Of Working Group activities
Substatial exchange is taking place among the Working Groups. A Chinese member o f the Energy Working Group has attended meetings of 5 groups. He indicates consi derable consistency in direction and activities, with little overlap. He notes th e need of Working Groups to maintain a focus on flow of information relevant to decision-making rather than on undertaking large projects.
There are numerous example of cooperation among Working Groups, including: joint membership (Transportation and Economics)；production of joint papers (Transpor tation, Energy, Economics)； systematic review of reports from all working groups (Economics), participation of working groups in activities of the Task Force on Economic Planning and Environmental Protection; consultation with Biodiversity a nd Sustainable Agriculture by the new Task Force on Forest and Grassland:during the design of its working plan; and information exchange between Cleaner Product ion, Pollution Control and Trade and Environment.
A long list of opportunities for future collaboration and coordination was drawn up. These opportunities include:
Incorporating more work related to environmental economics within the activities of all working groups, especially in the consideration of incentives and cost / benefit approaches. One example of many is incentives to expand use of cleaner transportation fuels.
Opportunities to link chemical production (cleaner technology) and ene rgy via innovative approaches such as polygeneration.
Clean coal technology transfer (Trade and Environment) should be link ed to work of Energy, Cleaner Production and Pollution Control.
Trade and Environment work on ISO14000 should be considered by Cleaner
Production and possibly other working groups
CDM work being carried out by Trade and Environment is pertinent to E nergy and possibly sustainable Agriculture and Forest and Grassland. Biodiversity's new focus on invasive species could be valuable to Sus tainable Agriculture, Forest and Grassland There is a need for assistance in th is the me from
Trade and Environment since there are limits on what can be done und er trade rules.
There is a useful opportunity for focusing effort by several working g roups on the Pearl River, especially Sustainable Agriculture and Pollution Contr ol.
More generally, in examining water resource issues, there is a need fo r cooperation, among a number of working groups.
The activities of the Energy, Transportation and Economic Working Grou ps, already quite closely aligned in certain aspect, could be Well served by fur ther collaboration, for example, on how to get very high efficiencY vehicles prod uced in China, with use of alternative fuels such as syngas.
The focus on environmental labeling and green food exports of the Trad e and Environmental Working Group might usefully be combined with the interests of the Sustainable Agriculture Working Group.
It is an inescapable conclusion that the expanding scope for collaboration among the working groups is related to their accumulated experience and depth of know ledge.
3. Comments regarding Draft Recommendations on China's Gr eat Western Development
There was extensive discussion on the process of developing the recommendation s and on their substance. Concern was expressed about the exclusive focus on Western China and about what would happen to those recommendations from working groups that were pertinent at the national level but not included. Several peop le commented on the need to maintain a national rather than regional focus. And that any perspectives about Western China need to be considered in relation to t he overall national economy.
Working group co-chairs were assured by the Secretary-General that their full re ports and recommendations will be forwarded to relevant ministries. The Co-chair s indicated full support for having the drafter of the summary report to the Pr emier make decisions about what might be included from the working group recomme ndations.
Comments about the substance of the recommendations focused on three important
themes:
A focus on sustainable development and sustainable investment patterns . It was suggested that an appropriate title might be China 's Western R egion Sustainable Development Strategy. This would recognize the need for environment, economy and social integration. There is a need to move from a pro ject focus to an overall strategy that would avoid repeating some experiences of the eastern region. A strategy should provide for more value-added economic app roaches, with more effective environmental assessment and pollution control meas ures, and better choices, for example, of upgrading rather than adding roads.
The need for institutional reform at local and provincial levels. This reform should provide for integrated analysis, better spatial and resource plan ning, human resource development, and policy analysis based on accurate reportin g (including State of Environment reporting). One suggestion is to develop a pol icy office patterned after the CCICED approach. Such an office could provide for integrated environment and economy analysis for the western region of China.
Clarification of ecological and environmental terminology and objectiv es. There is general agreement among Co-chairs the need to avoid ecological fra gmentation, to protect biodiversity, and to improve ecosystem functions such as groundwater storage. There is also a need for utilizing traditional ecological kn owledge. And for developing standards appropriate for environmental conditions i n western China rather than adhering strictly to national standards. But the Chi nese-English translation of ecological terms is sometimes confusing, especially in relation to accepted international use. The Biodiversity Working Group Co-cha irs have undertaken to determine whether this is a matter of translation, or of substantively different concepts being discussed.
4. Some Issues for Future Consideration
The working group co-chairs identified several issues for consideration by the C CICED in the future, including a proposal that Water management be considered as a major theme for next year's Council meeting. Some of the ideas presented rein force existing concerns. Others are new.
Water management in China to 2030 Over this period critical shortages are likely, rainfall patterns will be influenced by climate change, competition among sectors for limited water supplies will increase, and institutional issues , already major, may become overwhelming. lt is proposed that this theme be cons idered at next year's meeting, and that the working groups consider how they mig ht cooperate in this issue. The Chinese Academy of Engineering and other institut ions might be asked to provide inputs based on their national studies.
Integration continues to be a key concern. While much of the Council's effort focuses on the general links between environment economy, within Working Groups it is becoming much more specific, as noted in the opportunities for c ollaboration between energy and transportation, and on pollution control linking air, water and land sources. A greater emphasis on spatial planning and on inves tment strategies is suggested
Institutional development for improving integration is suggested as an on-going theme. The progress to date is viewed as small relative to the need, e ven though there have been some impressive achievements. There is also a concern expressed about capacity development, especially in light of downsizing within government units. The Council has not addressed capacity-building in any systema tic way.
Transition to a "Low Carbon Economy. " The emphasis of several working groups is towards alternative, "clean" energy use and industrial production, and towards more efficient transportation networks. What else needs to be done i n order for China to build a Low Carbon Economy, and indeed, is this objective a chievable?
Role of GMOs in China's future. Genetically modified organisms are wide ly used now in China's food production. The future is likely to hold many more o pportunities. For example in medicine, fish and forest production as well as food . But movement in this direction is highly controversial internationally, the Bi osafety Protocol is still at an early stage of implementation, and much remains unknown about environmental, legal and social implications of biotechnology . This may become an importan theme for several working groups.
Polygeneration and byproduct synergy. The relationship of chemical and energy production system promises to become even more complex. There are real
opportunities for doing more with less and for producing new fuels, While reduci ng effluents and creating useful chemical products.
Incentives. The continuing work environmental economics is considered essential by all Working Groups. Appropriate incentives need to be defined in ea ch sector where the Council is active.
CDM. Depending upon the outcome of climate change negotiation and Chin a's view, there may be wide spread opportunities not only in the industrial and e nergy sectors but also within natural resource and environmental sectors of Chin a. The limited focus on CDM, mainly with the Trade and Environment Working Group , may will deserve to be expanded in the coming years.
5. Self Assessment Report
Co-chairs endorse the findings of this report and express their support for the conclusion that the valuable work of the Council should continue into a Third Ph ase. It is particularly important to the working groups that their expertise in technical and policy are as can be so directly linked with access to senior deci sion-makers via the Council.
The Co－chairs noted the need to address various weaknesses identified with curr ent functioning of the working groups. These include strengthening of membe rship and，in some cases，working more closely with staff from ministries； co ntinuing to improve communications among working groups and with the Council;and the need for'more solid，committed support", in terms of research funding．
6．Future of the Council and Funding
Participants expressed appreciation for the additional funding from Norway and o thers that has make an important difference to the level of activities over this past year．However concern was expressed that timing of inputs for Phase 3 is critical so that there is continuity in work plans．Concern was expressed about the decline（even though absolute amounts are on the rise）in the proportion of CCICED funding by China．Some participants expressed the strong view that financ ial ownership of the ship Council by China is very important，given the signifi cance of the work to China's future．
lt was noted that some，perhaps all of the Working Groups，are under－resourced in relation to the activities being pursued．It is hoped that this situation wil l change in Phase3．Finally，as the Council enters the final year of Phase 2， some Working Groups have indicated an interest in publishing results of up to a decade's work．There is opportunity for the council to consider how this might best be done in a way that publicizes，both within and outside China，the valua ble work being accomplished．Perhaps an overall synthesis of the Council's efforts might be considered as well．