The Shenzhen municipal government plans to allow polluters to be
able to "trade" their sewage discharge quotas in a bid to curb
environmental pollution in the city.
In a similar way that Western countries have adopted carbon
emissions trading schemes to help the worst polluters minimize
their impact, the result should be a win-win situation for both the
government and local enterprises, Li Shuisheng, head of the legal
department with the municipal environmental protection bureau, said
recently.
However no timetable has been set for the introduction of the
measure.
Under the new system, the city government will give up some of
its quota transaction rights while enterprises which have achieved
good results in the treatment of sewage and industrial waste can
sell their discharge quotas for profit.
At present, only a few cities in China, including Suzhou City in
east China's Jiangsu Province, are trialing the new
mechanism.
Realizing the importance of turning pollution management into a
market-oriented behavior, the Shenzhen municipal government stated
clearly in its No. 1 paper for this year that it will speed up
promulgating policies related to the transaction of sewage
discharge.
However, Li admitted that much research needs to be done as the
authorities in the city lack experience in this field. Obstacles
facing the city government include how to set sewage discharge
quotas, how to distribute the quotas in a scientific and fair way
and how to set the price for quota transaction. Relevant laws and
regulations also need to be drawn up, Li said.
In Western countries where pollution quotas are tradable,
discharge rights can be auctioned off in the primary market and
then traded in the secondary market.
(Shenzhen Daily January 9, 2007)