China's input on environmental protection has hit record high,
exceeding 250 billion yuan, or about US$35 billion last year,
According to the annual report issued by the environment watchdog
last week.
China's input on environmental protection has hit record high,
exceeding 250 billion yuan, or about US$35 billion last year.
According to the annual report issued by the environment
watchdog last week, despite this growing input, problems still
remain.
The report, issued by the State Environmental Protection
Administration, says that China has put in 256 billion yuan on
protecting environment in 2006, an increase of 7.5 percent from the
previous year.
Li Yan, campaigner for Green Peace China, says the increase is
encouraging and it is a signal for more enterprises to join
environmental protection.
"Environmental issues are getting more attention from the
government. There are also massive business opportunities. In order
to tackle environmental problems, the government should also
realize the potential of using the market and financial
mechanism."
Li Yan says China is growing into a big producer of
climate-friendly products, such as energy-efficient light
bulbs.
In addition, the country has launched a national campaign
earlier this month, calling people to save energy and cut emission
in their daily lives. The campaign covers nearly all groups of
people, including those in residential communities, schools,
enterprises, governments and so on.
But the environment watchdog says the huge progress in both
financial input and public awareness won't eliminate all the
problems. For examples, there are more than 400 water pollution
cases last year, accounting for about half of all pollution
cases.
Experts say the reason lies in the sources that are polluting
rivers constantly, such as chemical factories. Furthermore, sewage
treatment plants may not have strict administration, which posed
difficulties in protecting rivers.
Song Guojun, professor in environment and natural resources with
Renmin University, gave some advices in tackling the problem.
"It is good for us to have risk management on big pollution
sources, which will be used as a supportive measure to the
emergency plans. If risk management is launched, no matter the
problem is frequent or seldom, we can have more control over them
and stop them from happening again."
The professor also warns that small-sized pollution sources,
such as those in rural areas, deserve as much attention as the
factories in big cities. Inspection on both urban and rural areas
can be done at the same time to reduce damage to the lowest level
possible.
Meanwhile, some projects that have been put into practice years
ago have shown fruitful results.
For example, China began the trail work for biological zones in
1996. Till the end of last year, there are more than 500 such zones
across the country, contributing as models to environmental
protection, especially in proper development of natural resources
and improvement of the ecology.
(CRI September 30, 2007)
