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SPAC Watch
SPAC Watch Research: China
Accountability
• Chapter 7 of China's Agenda 21 is titled "Population, Consumption and Social Services". The chapter deals squarely with the problem of overconsumption in the following terms "H owever, the rapid growth of population together with non-sustainable consumption has become a tremendous burden on the supply of limited energy and resources." "The Chinese Government plans to take necessary measures and actions to alter traditional irrational consumption practices and encourage more reasonable and sustainable consumption behaviour. Special attention should be focused on consumption in poverty-stricken and backward areas." [i]
• Chapter 7 divides the strategy relating to SPAC activities into goals and activities. Interestingly enough the activities are divided into measures about production (sustainable production), consumption (meeting green products with sustainable consumption), distribution (socially equitable consumption) and investment (taxes, green expenditure and investment)
• "China therefore needs to develop a national initiative on sustainable consumption and production through a circular economy. The framework and practical elements need to reflect Chinese characteristics and needs, and should include a revision of existing policies and practices. China will thereby also contribute to an enrichment of emerging Asia-Pacific regional strategies." [ii]
• In China , environmental indicators are used to support the preparation and implementation of the country's five-year plans, and monitor the implementation of pollution abatement and control programmes. In China , indicators used to communicate environmental information to the public, include state of the environment reports at the national; regional and municipal level containing indicators covering a range of environmental issues. In China , several government ministries have taken environmental measures as well as set environmental targets and are using indicators to measure progress. [iii]
• The Chinese government is working on the criteria and indexes of a green GDP, which deducts the cost of environmental damage and resources consumption from the traditional gross domestic product, and the new set of criteria is expected to be finished in three to five years. [iv]
Responsibility
• Chapter 7 of the Chinese Agenda 21 states "China will not follow the development model of industrialized countries which have achieved high economic growth and lifestyles through high consumption at the expense of high use of natural resources and serious environmental pollution. China will develop in accordance with her own realities." [v]
Implementation
• NGO initiative about sustainable consumption and local implementation - GVB's Green Communities program states the problem thus: "Current consumption patterns are pushing industrialization to its maximum capacity and will ultimately cause unsustainable development for the next century. Educating people on sustainable consumption is a key to turning environmental protection into a popular lifestyle." The program is described thus: "GVB works for the establishment of green communities, because the environmentally-friendly lifestyle is difficult to stipulate by law, especially in China. By setting up models for others to follow, GVB hopes that the public participation mechanism will expand from community to community." [vi]
• Local Agenda 21 in China: By the end of 1996, two-thirds of the 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities had organised their respective Leading Groups and established working offices to implement their Local Agenda 21. Some provinces have formulated their own Local Agenda 21 and action plans, such as the Agenda 21 of Sichuan (the most populous province in China), the Agenda 21 of Shanxi (a coal-rich province), and the "Action Plan for Implementing China's Agenda 21 in Guizhou - Challenging Poverty" (the poorest province of the country). Some other provinces and municipalities have incorporated the sustainable concept into their local plans for economic and social development and regional development. [vii]
Endnotes
[i] Chapter 7, Para 7.4, White paper on China's Agenda 21, < http://210.72.96.19:8080/acca21/news/whitepaper7.htm >
[ii] " Conclusions and recommendations of the first International Forum on Sustainable consumption and production in China", Changsha, China, Dec 2003 < http://icspac.net/documents/ChangshaSPAC.pdf >
[iii] OECD-China seminar on environmental indicators, OECD, December 2003, < http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/5/12/32268476.doc >
[iv] China plans to set up green GDP system in 3 - 5 years, China Daily, March 2004 < http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-03/12/content_314332.htm >
[v] Chapter 7, Section B Para 7.28, White paper on China's Agenda 21 < http://210.72.96.19:8080/acca21/news/whitepaper7.htm#B.%20Establishment%20of%20Sustainable%20Consumption%20Patterns >
[vi] "Promoting sustainable consumption and green community in China", Global Village of Berlin, 2003 < http://www.pemsea.org/downloads_pdf/abstracts/B1/s3/5Sheri-B-1-3_Promoting%20Sustainable....PDF >
[vii] "Progress in implementing local Agenda 21", National Report on sustainable development, June 1997, < http://www.acca21.org.cn/nrc2s6.html >