The vice-minister of the State Environment Protection
Administration (SEPA)
told a national forum in Beijing yesterday that more emphasis needs
to be put on strategic-level environmental impact assessment,
rather than simply on a case-by-case basis.
"During previous deliberations on significant economic policies,
national strategic assessment has been neglected, with little
consideration of environmental impact. This has resulted in
large-scale pollution and ecological destruction," said Pan
Yue.
He was speaking at the 8th Green China Forum themed "Strategic
Environmental Impact Assessment and Sustainable Development" this
year.
"Before, attention was only paid to assessment of specific
construction projects," Pan said. "However, construction is the
last link in the decision making chain, so assessment at this point
has only a small influence and cannot protect the wider environment
or guide policymaking."
Impact assessment planning should involve working out a
framework in line with five major resources: energy, freshwater,
arable land, mineral and biological resources.
September 1 marks the second anniversary of the promulgation of
the Environmental Impact Assessment Law, which Pan said provides
strong legal support for the establishment of strategic
assessment.
Forum participants said China's increasing rates of consumption
of energy and raw materials largely exceed its GDP growth.
They said crude oil consumption was 7.4 percent of the world
total, raw coal 31 percent, iron ore 30 percent and aluminium oxide
25 percent. However, GDP only accounted for 4 percent of the
world's total.
(China Daily August 29, 2005)