Assessment system will help protect environment
Pan YueChina Daily  Updated: 2005-09-19 05:52

Strategic environmental impact assessment holds the key to the sustainable development of the nation.

It is widely accepted that only when the economy, society and the environment are in harmony can they develop in a sustainable way.

The ability to put the sustainable development concept into practice will determine whether the grand undertaking of reinvigorating the nation can be achieved or not.

Currently, China's economic growth is characterized by reliance on resources consumption.

In terms of per-capita possession of resources, China ranks low in the world, with many categories below the global average. Per-capita oil is only 1.8 per cent of the world's average and iron ore 9 per cent.

If China is to achieve sustainable growth, a proper sustainable development strategy must be worked out to include strategic environmental impact assessment.

The strategic environmental impact assessment system, by taking preventative measures or tackling problems that have already occurred, is meant to stop the environment from becoming polluted.

This system originated in the United States, with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 as its foundation.

The act requires responsible officials to provide environmental impact assessment reports on proposals for legislation and other major federal decisions that significantly affect the quality of the environment.

This practice has been copied in many countries, and by the end of the 1980s similar environment assessment systems were already widespread, especially in developed countries.

In China, the Environmental Impact Assessment Law came into effect in 2003 - a milestone that has greatly improved the country's environment assessment mechanism.

In the past, when drawing up major economic policies, the impact such measures would likely have on the environment were seldom taken into consideration, which often led to serious problems.

When heavy industries were designated as pillars of the economy in central and western provinces in the past, decision-makers failed to recognize that the fragile ecological environment in those regions could not support such heavy-polluting firms, resulting in serious ecological disasters that will take locals several generations to recover from.

Experience shows that if decision-making bodies gave more consideration to potential environmental impact when drafting construction or other social plans, not only could pollution be cut but also economic losses and social friction reduced.

It is imperative that the introduction of an environmental impact assessment system in our social planning comes sooner rather than later.

The Environmental Impact Assessment Law, which only requires the planning environment impact assessment, should serve as the starting point for the promotion of strategic environment impact assessment.

Planning environment impact assessment evaluates a project's potential environmental impact before it is drafted.

Previously attention was only paid to the assessment of specific construction projects. But as building is the last link in the decision-making chain, so its assessment has only a limited influence and cannot protect the wider environment. Neither can it guide policy-making in terms of overall plans that specific construction projects may be parts of.

But with the planning environmental impact assessment system in place, the effects of policies on the surroundings will be taken into consideration when drafting overall plans, which could provide valuable information for decision-makers.

With sustainable development as its ultimate goal, the strategic environment assessment system is conducive to integrating or co-ordinating policies that have environmental implications while pooling the efforts of different government bodies.

But to realize the goal of sustainable development requires hard work from the whole of society.

Although the environment assessment law has been in effect for two years, China still faces daunting challenges in promoting strategic environmental impact assessment.

There is still a lack of systematic strategic environment assessment theories and expertise and the mechanism for inter-departmental co-ordination has not yet been established.

Greater efforts are needed to promote the application of strategic environment assessment.

As the first step, specific management rules should be enacted to clearly demarcate the roles and responsibilities of different government organs as they approach environment assessment work.

It is recommended that planning environment impact assessment be first applied in some pilot provinces or cities where the clash between the environment and economy is particularly damaging.

It is also vital that the public participates in promoting environment assessment.

Efforts should be made to inform citizens about the environment assessment law so they are aware of the potential environmental impact development planning is likely to have, making everyone actively take part in the supervision of environment assessment projects.

Planning environment impact assessment capacity building is also imperative. A capable team of environment assessment professionals should be established and training offered to them.

(China Daily 09/19/2005 page4)

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