Stricter measures to ensure officials responsible for pollution
accidents are held to account have been called for by Chinese
Premier Wen Jiabao who observed that environmental
protection was still not receiving enough notice in some
areas.
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"Those who cause major pollution accidents through wrong decisions
or lax supervision must be severely punished," Wen said on April 17
at the sixth national environmental protection conference held in
Beijing. The full transcript of the speech was published on
Sunday.
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The official accountability system has already led to the sacking
of government officials after environmental incidents among them
former environmental chief Xie Zhenhua after the Songhua River
incident last November.
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The conference, attended by environmental chiefs from various
regions in China, coincided with choking dusty weather which
plagued the Chinese capital for several days.
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"We must be fully aware of the severity and complexity of our
country's environmental situation and the importance and urgency of
improving environmental protection," Wen said.
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Environmental protection will become part of the assessment system
of economic and social development and the performance of
officials, Wen pointed out.?
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"From this year the levels of energy consumption and discharge of
pollutants of various regions and major industries should be
released to the public every six months to facilitate supervision,"
said Wen.
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Zhou Shengxian, head of the State Environmental Protection
Administration (SEPA), said pollution posed a great threat to
social stability noting there were 51,000 disputes over pollution
last year.
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He said China has experienced 76 environmental emergencies since
serious pollution of northeast China's Songhua River on Nov. 13,
2005 - one every two days on average.
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Unless effective measures were taken, he said, pollution would
become an bigger problem.?
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At the meeting, Wen called for quotas to be set for the discharge
of pollutants in various regions. He also demanded construction
projects that failed environmental impact appraisals to be
reviewed, restrictions or a ban on development in certain
functional areas, stronger law enforcement, the establishment of a
proper price structure for pollution discharge and treatment, an
increase in investment in environmental protection and an
improvement in the monitoring and management systems.
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"We must spend money on pollution control sooner or later and the
sooner the better," said Wen.
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He urged hard work in the following areas:
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-- intensify treatment of pollution and solve outstanding
environmental problems. The most urgent tasks at present were to
curb water and air pollution.
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"Our chemical plants are mostly located along rivers. This could
cause serious consequences if accidents occur," said Wen.
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-- improve protection of eco-systems and push to reverse ecological
deterioration. On one hand, improper development activities should
be controlled and on the other hand continuous efforts required to
be made to protect woodland and plant new forests.
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-- accelerate economic restructuring to create an industrial system
that would aid resource conservation and environmental
protection.
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-- make advances in environmental science and technology to improve
environmental protection capabilities.
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"Protecting the environment is to protect the homes we live in and
the foundations for the development of the Chinese nation," said
Wen. "We should not use up resources left by our forefathers
without leaving any to our offspring."
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Wen said China has surpassed most economic development objectives
during the past five years but not the two main targets in
environmental protection.
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China set targets of cutting discharge of sulphur dioxide by 10
percent and chemical oxygen demand (COD) by 10 percent during
2000-2005. In 2005 discharge of sulphur dioxide rose 27 percent
over 2000 while discharge of COD dropped by only 2 percent.
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Currently, rivers flowing through cities are polluted in sections
of the downtown areas; one fifth of Chinese cities suffer from
serious air pollution; one third of the land area is affected by
acid rain; 3.56 million square kilometers of land suffer soil
erosion; 1.74 million square kilometers of land is undergoing
desertification; more than 90 percent of natural grasslands have
degenerated and biodiversity has decreased.
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"Environmental problems that confronted developed countries over
more than 100 years of industrialization have occurred all at once
in China," said Wen.
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He said ecological damage and environmental pollution had caused
huge economic losses and? threatened the health and lives of
people.
China's 11th Five-Year (2006-2010) Plan for economic and social
development has set environmental protection targets for the next
five years which include cutting energy consumption? per unit
of GDP by around 20 percent from the end of the 10th Five-Year
(2001-2005) Plan period; reducing discharge of major pollutants by
10 percent; and increasing forest coverage rate from 18.2 percent
to 20 percent.
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"Although it will be difficult we must ensure these targets are
met," said Wen.
(Xinhua News Agency April 25, 2006)