On the sidelines of the African Development Bank Annual Meeting held in
Shanghai yesterday, environmental experts from Japan, China and
South Korea put forward their shared experiences in marrying
environmental protection and sustainable development with their
African counterparts.
Professor Ma Zhong, dean of School of Environment and Natural
Resources, Renmin University of China, gave his views on basing a
new market mechanism with fiscal instruments going towards
protecting the environment.
Ma specified that environmental fiscal expenditures, taxation
and pricing, and environmental fiscal instruments (EFI) could all
work together in improving overall environmental quality while
simultaneously making local residents and companies better off.
Last year alone, the value of the pollution levy system in China
amounted to over 1 billion yuan. Ma also added that, for the
duration of the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010), the Chinese
government would bear the brunt of environmental protection
investment, accounting for over 50 percent there of. Additionally,
an environmental fiscal expenditure account will soon be
established.
However, before these admirable goals are met, many policy and
institutional obstacles must be overcome. These range from the
under-pricing of environmental goods and services, the need to
overhaul the current lackluster planning system, and the central
government's poor fiscal capacity to assume environmental
protection on the creation of EFI.
With sewage treatment having been made a focus of this year's
African Economic Outlook, Ma shed light on the frequent levying of
urban wastewater discharge fees in China while also proposing the
introduction of a water resources tax. He stipulated that China's
strong background in sustainable development studies could act as a
compass to African countries seeking to emulate this success.
This year's African Economic Outlook released by
African Development Bank and OECD Development Center on Monday
revolved around the twin themes of water and sanitation in Africa.
It reported that although water availability remains good overall
on the continent, the dearth of any sector-specific infrastructure
or investment is impairing any progress.
Professor Kazuhiro Ueta from Kyoto University of Japan,
addressed the relationship between his country's economic growth
and environmental destruction, stating that it provided a realistic
sustainable development policy framework which could be applied to
African countries. Environmental protection has cemented its
position as a key factor in sustainable development as well as in
an economy's "green growth" alike for Asian and African
countries.
Finally, Professor Bok Yeong Park from the Korea Institute for
International Economic Policy focused on a case study outlining the
desirable social consensus to be reached in balancing development
and the environment.
(China.org.cn by staff reporter Li Shen in Shanghai, May 17,
2007)
