Three new national measures adopted by the State Council have elevated the country's energy conservation and emission reduction efforts to a new level.
As part of a unified statistical, monitoring and evaluation scheme, provincial officials and enterprise leaders face career-risking outcomes if they fail to meet their "green" targets under the new "strict accountability system".
The documents reiterate the country's goal of cutting energy consumption per unit of GDP by 20 percent and reducing major pollutant emissions by 10 percent. But unlike the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10) that specified the aims as "major goals to be strived for", the new measures mandate both as "important compulsory indicators".
Each compulsory indicator "must be achieved by governments with all effective means," the deputy director-general of National Development and Reform Commission's (NDRC) development planning division, Xu Lin, said earlier. The NDRC posted the documents on its website (www.ndrc.gov.cn) on Monday.
The documents say small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the coal and electricity sectors have to set up statistical databases starting from next year. Also, the some 1,000 big enterprises that use more than 10,000 tons of standard coal a year have to undergo thorough annual tests, along with all provincial-level governments.
Provincial and enterprise leaders are now placed on an evaluation sheet of 100 points. Provincial governments can earn 40 of those points by cutting the rate of energy consumption per 10,000 yuan ($1,354) of GDP. Enterprises can get the 40 points by cutting their emissions.
The documents say officials and corporations have to submit their energy efficiency targets annually following standards outlined in the 11th Five-Year Plan. A joint assessment team of the NDRC, the Ministry of Supervision, the Ministry of Personnel and a number of other departments will evaluate their performances.
To pass the entire assessment, a province or enterprise has to earn more than 20 points in this section, and the unsuccessful ones will receive a failing grade.
Moreover, "failed" provinces will have to halt their pending high-consumption projects, streamline their actions, and their governments will face investigation.
Officials and enterprises that lie or try to conceal facts can face legal charges.
Despite significant progress, the energy conservation and emission reduction situation is still "quite severe", said NDRC deputy chairman Xie Zhenhua last week.
In the first three quarters of this year, China's energy consumption per unit of GDP dropped 3 percent year-on-year. But the figure last year was only 1.23 percent.
Questions:
1. How will provincial governments and enterprises be evaluated on their energy consumption and pollution emissions?
2. What will happen to those provinces that fail to meet targets?
3. If officials or enterprises lie or try to conceal the facts, what punishment will they face?
Answers:
1.If provincial governments reduce the rate energy consumption per 10,000 yuan of GPD, and if enterprises cut emissions, they can each get 40 points.
2.They will have to halt pending high-consumption projects, streamline their actions and their governments will face investigation.
3.Legal charges.
（英语点津 Celene 编辑）
About the broadcaster:
Bernice Chan is a foreign expert at China Daily Website. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Bernice has written for newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong and most recently worked as a broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, producing current affairs shows and documentaries.
