OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: China

1 ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENTOECD Environmental PerformanceReviewsCHINAORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENTThe OECD is a unique forum where the governments of 30 democracies worktogether to address the economic, social and Environmental challenges of OECD is also at the forefront of efforts to understand and to help governmentsrespond to new developments and concerns, such as corporate governance, theinformation economy and the challenges of an ageing population. The Organisationprovides a setting where governments can compare policy experiences, seek answers tocommon problems, identify good practice and work to co-ordinate domestic andinternational OECD member countries are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, theCzech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland,Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand,Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey,the United Kingdom and the United States.

2 The Commission of the EuropeanCommunities takes part in the work of the Publishing disseminates widely the results of the Organisation s statisticsgathering and research on economic, social and Environmental issues, as well as theconventions, guidelines and standards agreed by its available in French under the title:Examens environnementaux de l OCDE : CHINEand in Chinese under the title: OECD 2007No reproduction, copy, transmission or translation of this publication may be made without written should be sent to OECD Publishing or by fax 33 1 45 24 99 30. Permission to photocopy aportion of this work should be addressed to the Centre fran ais d exploitation du droit de copie (CFC), 20, rue desGrands-Augustins, 75006 Paris, France, fax 33 1 46 34 67 19, or (for US only) to Copyright ClearanceCenter (CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive Danvers, MA 01923, USA, fax 1 978 646 8600, work is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General ofthe OECD.

3 The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do notnecessarily reflect the official views of the Organisation or of the governmentsof its member countries. OECD 2007 OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: China3 FOREWORDA healthy economy needs a healthy environment. In line with its mission topromote sustainable economic growth and rising living standards, the OECD promotes better integration of Environmental concerns into economic and sectoralpolicies. In this context, the OECD s Environmental Performance Reviews conducted since 1992 provide a systematic analysis of countries actions to reachtheir Environmental goals and specific recommendations to improve their have learned much from past exercises of OECD member countries. But wehave also continued to extend our reach and effectiveness with the work with nonmember countries.

4 This co-operation has proven fruitful. In the case of China , thepresent review builds on over a decade of OECD- China Environmental collaborationand is part of a wider strategy that relies on studies of several other areas such as: theEconomic Surveys and the reviews of Agricultural Policies and Governance OECD Environmental Performance review of China was based on the samemethodology used for Environmental reviews of all OECD countries. This reviewevaluates China 's Performance in reducing pollution, improving the management ofnatural resources, implementing economically efficient and environmentally effectivepolicies, and strengthening international co-operation. It includes Conclusions and51 Recommendations which were presented to China and all OECD countries in apeer review review confirms that rapid economic development, industrialisation andurbanisation have generated severe and growing pressures on the environment,resulting in significant damage to human health and depletion of natural example, air pollution levels in some cities are among the worst in the world, one-third of water courses are severely polluted, and illnesses and injuries are associatedwith poor Environmental and occupational conditions.

5 In terms of resource use,energy consumption per unit of GDP is about 20% higher than the OECD average,and large-scale transfers of water from southern to northern China are needed to keepup with growing review supports recent declarations by the Chinese authorities to encouragemore balanced patterns of development by promoting concepts such as harmonioussociety and scientific development . It also found that China has embraced polluter pays and user pays principles, approaches promoted by OECD. This is4 OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: China OECD 2007reflected in China s Environmental legislation and the introduction of emissioncharges and water , the implementation of these Environmental policies lacks environmentaleffectiveness and economic efficiency. Energy, transport, industry and urbandevelopment policies need to integrate Environmental concerns institutionally andthrough market-based mechanisms.

6 Energy, water and other natural resources stillremain under-priced. Further, international Environmental co-operation needs to bestrengthened in the mutual interest of China and the international actions are necessary to protect the ozone layer, to combat climate change,and to tackle regional Environmental issues such as acid rain, desertification andprotection of the marine urge China to strengthen its efforts, to move towards a more environmentally harmonious society , and to step up international Environmental co-operation. It is inChina s own interest to address the negative impacts of Environmental degradationand natural resources depletion on the health and well-being of its people and on itseconomic development. It is also in the interest of making globalisation andenvironment compatible and mutually supportive.

7 As China enjoys a continued highrate of economic growth, further Environmental progress will reward China withmajor economic and social Gurr aSecretary-General OECD 2007 OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: China5 TABLE OF CONTENTS1. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .. 151. Environmental Management .. 16 Implementing Environmental policies more effectively and efficiently .. 18 Water .. 20 Waste ..22 Nature .. 242. Towards Harmonious Society and EnvironmentallySustainable Development .. 26 Integration of Environmental concerns in economic decisions .. 26 Integration of Environmental and social decisions .. 273. International Co-operation .. 29 Part IENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT2. THE 331. Physical 342. Economic Context .. and related of the Chinese and 383. Social Context.

8 404. Institutional Context .. institutions .. framework .. 49 Selected Sources .. 523. AIR 56 Conclusions .. 566 OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: China OECD 20071. Policy 582. Ambient Air Quality and Emissions .. trends .. quality trends .. 653. Air Quality 694. Integrating Air Management Objectives into Energy Policy .. in the energy sector .. to reduce air pollution from energy production and use ..765. Integrating Air Management Objectives into Transport Policy .. in the transport sector .. to mitigate air pollution from transport ..82 Selected Sources .. 874. WATER 90 Conclusions .. 911. Policy 922. Water Quality .. and of economic instruments .. 1043. Water Resource of water resource basin instruments.

9 For the future .. 116 Selected Sources .. 1205. WASTE 124 Conclusions .. 1241. Waste Management Framework .. objectives .. aspects .. definitions .. 1282. Waste Management Performance .. , treatment and disposal .. management infrastructure .. 137 OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: China7 OECD management institutions .. , financing and 139 Selected Sources .. 1426. NATURE AND 146 Conclusions .. 1461. Policy 1472. Species Protection and Recovery .. medicine and other uses of endangered alien 1533. Habitats and Protected Areas .. progress .. implications .. 1584. Integrating Biodiversity Concerns into the Forestry Sector .. of forest key forestry initiatives .. for ecosystem services .. 1645. International Co-operation .. level .. 166 Selected Sources.

10 172 Part IISUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT7. Environmental -ECONOMIC 176 Conclusions .. 177 Integration of Environmental concerns in economic decisions .. 177 Implementing Environmental policies more effectively and efficiently .. 1781. Towards Sustainable development in Environmental pressures from economic growth .. and institutional development and market-based 1948 OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: China OECD 20072. Environmental Policy institutional arrangements .. instruments .. management in industry .. use planning and 214 Selected Sources .. 2218. Environmental -SOCIAL 226 Conclusions .. 2261. Social Disparities and the Environment .. Environmental challenges .. 2362. Health and the Environment .. pollution .. pollution .. health .. 2393. Environmental Democracy.