The Central Government is expected to almost double its spending on the environment over the next five years to address pollution and other ecological problems.

But environmental officials and experts say the expenditure will barely be enough to stop further ecological from deterioration, and far from enough to make an actual improvement.

According to the State Environmental Protection Administration, the budget is projected to reach 1.37 billion yuan (US$168 million) between 2006 and 2010, a sharp increase of 650 billion yuan over the previous five years.

"The budget hike was a result of the growing importance attached to environmental protection by the top leadership," Ren Yong with SEPA's policy research center for the environment was quoted by the South China Morning Post as saying Wednesday.

The budget for the next five-year program was reviewed by the CPC Central Committee last month and is subject to approval by the National People's Congress in March.

According to SEPA data, the environment budget will account for 1.6 percent of the gross domestic product projected for the next five years, up from the 1.4 percent share of GDP last year.

Ren said the Central Government has increased environment related investments in the past 15 years, with budgets at least doubling every five years.

He said the biggest challenge was controlling the worsening pollution in rivers and rural areas.

"We have seen big gaps in the implementation of the green budgets for the ninth and 10th five-year plans," Ren said. "The new budget is expected to be carried out better, given the central and local governments' attention, but it is really hard to predict the outcome."

Although senior officials, including SEPA director Xie Zhenhua, call for the introduction of a market-oriented mechanism to collect funds for the environment, Ren said the government had little choice but shoulder the bulk of the investment. The central and provincial governments contribute up to 60 percent of the total environment budget. Low level governments and companies pay the rest.

Environmentalists welcomed the proposed budget increase. "It is a positive move," said Fan Xiao, an environmental expert from Sichuan. "But we should be aware that fast economic growth, featuring large power projects, has caused even more damage to our living environment."    

(Shenzhen Daily November 10, 2005)