(China Daily)
Updated: 2007-11-28 07:10

The five-year environmental protection plan the State Council publicized on Monday comes quite late. Almost two years have passed since the country vowed to cut energy consumption per unit GDP by 20 percent and major pollutants by 10 percent between 2006 and 2010.

However, this belated battle map is still much needed. It not only reminds us of a marked lack of progress in saving energy and reducing pollution.

More important, it breathes new life to the country's campaign to go green by securing finance for environmental protection and adding teeth to the environmental watchdog.

The picture of ecological damage across the country the new plan painted was indeed stark.

Though China issued a five-year environment plan for 2001 to 2005, the targets set were not met. According to the State Environmental Protection Administration, sulfur dioxide emissions in 2005 increased by 27.8 percent over that in 2000 instead of dropping while the COD fell 2.1 percent from 2000 rather than 10 percent.

It is not until this year that the two key measures on pollution have begun to fall simultaneously.

The fact highlights the difficulties to engineer a complete about-face of local governments who favor economic growth over environmental protection.

The new plan has set out guidelines, major tasks and measures for the government to tackle pollution. One of the most important things is it has made clear that the country needs to invest 1.35 percent of its GDP each year for the next three years in environmental protection.

Adequate financial support is vital to smooth implementation of many energy-saving or pollution-reducing projects. As a developing country, China lacks both funds and technology to facilitate its pursuit of greener growth.

With guaranteed investment in environmental protection, it is more than likely that the country can make considerable achievements in combating pollution and raising energy efficiency.

Another thrust of the new plan is that it will introduce an assessment mechanism for the central authorities to monitor the local governments on cutting energy intensity and pollutant discharges.

The greening of local officials' mindsets is definitely crucial to the country's battle to go green.

(China Daily 11/28/2007 page10)