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Detailed accounts of the impact of economic development on China’s environmental landscape through the century have been provided by scholars, many of whom are Chinese. By the mid-1800s, wide swaths of northern China were desert; deforestation and poor agricultural practices had degraded vast tracts of land; overuse had depleted fish stocks; and small-scale factories had begun to pollute the country’s water resources.〔Smil, V. (1993),'China's Environmental Crises', (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe)〕〔Rock, M. (2002a) 'Pollution Control in East Asia' (Washington, DC: Resources for the Future)〕〔Economy, E. (2004) 'The River Runs Black: the Environmental challenge to China's Future' (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press〕 Additionally, the pressures of China’s burgeoning population and frequent wars, which took their own serious toll on the environment, compounded the challenge of China’s development.〔Economy, E. (2004) 'The River Runs Black: the Environmental challenge to China's Future' (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press)〕〔Smil, V. (1993), 'China's Environmental Crises', (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe)〕 However, by the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries, there was an explosive growth in China’s economy. New government policies encouraged the privatisation of agriculture, the wholesale urbanisation of China’s rural population, the development of tens of thousands of small-scale rural industries and an influx of international investment.〔Carter, N.T. and Mol, A.P.J. (2007) Environment Governance in China. London: Routledge〕 The results have been staggering: hundreds of millions of Chinese have been lifted out of poverty; China’s economy continues to grow at a rate of 8–12 per cent annually, as it has for two decades and by the end of 2005, China was the fourth largest economy and third largest exporting nation in the world, after the United States and Germany.〔Lei, P., Long, B. and Pamlin, C. (2005) 'Chinese Companies in the 21st century helping or destroying the planet?' April, World Wildlife Fund survey〕 Nevertheless, China’s environment paid a steep price for this economic growth. Water pollution, air pollution, and soil degradation pose enormous threat to ecosystems and human health. However, these issues are being taken seriously by the Chinese government and are now being incorporated into policies and plans at the highest level.〔Jing, C., Richard, G. and Mun, S.H. (2009) 'China's 11th Five Year Plan and the Environment: Reducing SO2 Emissions', ''Review of Environmental Econmics and Policy'', 3(2), 231-250.〕 Just as rapid economic growth, so is environmental governance system in China rapidly changing; resulting in new environmental institutions and practices. State authorities rule increasingly via laws and decentralise environmental policymaking and implementation. Non-state actors –both private companies and (organised) citizens – are given and taking more responsibilities and tasks in environmental governance.〔Arthur, P,J. Mol and Neil, T. Carter (2006) 'China's Environmental governance in transition', Environmental Politics, 15(02), 149-170〕 The consequence of these reflects in new relations between state, market and civil society in environmental governance, with more emphasis on efficiency and legitimacy.〔Carter, N.T. and Mol, A.P.J. (2007) Environment Governance in China. London: Routledge〕 ==China’s environmental institutions== China once believed that humans could and should conquer nature, and that only capitalist societies suffered from environmental damage.〔Qu, G. (2000) 'Dream and Expectation: Post and Future of China's Environment', (China's Environmental Science Press, Beijing)〕〔Liu, J. and Diamond, J. (2005) 'China's Environment in a globalizing world', ''nature'', 435, 1179-1186〕 But in 1972, when China sent a delegation to the First United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, such line of reasoning began to change.〔Qu, G. (2000) 'Dream and Expectation: Post and Future of China's Environment', (China's Environmental Science Press, Beijing)〕 In 1974 the government's Leading Group for Environmental Protection was established with equivalent in the provinces. This later evolved into the National Environmental Protection Agency in 1988.〔Editorial Board Environmental Protection in China (China's Environmental Science Press, Beijing, 2000)〕 In 1983, environmental protection was declared a basic national principle in China and in consequence, key principles for environmental protection was proposed by the government of China, which include ‘prevention is the main, then control’ polluter responsible for pollution control’.〔Carter, N.T. and Mol, A.P.J. (2007) Environment Governance in China. London: Routledge〕〔Editorial Board Environmental Protection in China (China's Environmental Science Press, Beijing, 2000)〕 Subsequently, a national regulatory framework was formulated, composed of a series of environmental laws, executive regulations, standards and measures (on all the major environmental sectors, starting with marine protection and water in 1982 and 1984 respectively.〔Carter, N.T. and Mol, A.P.J. (2007) Environment Governance in China. London: Routledge〕〔Liu, J. and Diamond, J. (2005) 'China's Environment in a globalizing world', ''nature'', 435, 1179-1186〕 In 1994, China laid out a broad strategy to achieve sustainable development and by 1996, China had already developed its first five-year plan on environmental protection.〔Editorial Board Environmental Protection in China (China's Environmental Science Press, Beijing, 2000)〕 At the national level, China has more than 20 environmental laws adopted by the National People's Congress, there are also over 140 executive regulations issued by the state council, and a series of sector regulations and environmental standards set by the State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA).〔Carter, N.T. and Mol, A.P.J. (2007) Environment Governance in China. London: Routledge〕 In 2003, the government of China proposed a new development concept emphasizing humanism and attempting to achieve sustainable development and harmony between man and nature, as well as coordinated socio-economic progress among various regions and with foreign countries.〔Wen, J. (2004) http://www.sociology.cass.netcn/shxw/shgz/shgz6/t20040405_1994.htm〕 At the international level, China has also participated in treaties such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN Millennium Development Goals, which include poverty alleviation, environmental protection and sustainable development.〔Liu, J. and Diamond, J. (2005) 'China's Environment in a globalizing world', ''nature'', 435, 1179-1186〕 Institutionally, the national regulatory framework is vertically implemented through a four-tier management system i.e., national, provincial, municipal and county levels. The latter three levels are governed directly by their corresponding authorities in terms of both finance and personnel management, while SEPA is only responsible for their substantial operation.〔Mol, A.P.J.,Neil, T. Carter (2006) 'China's Environmental governance in transition', ''Environmental Politics'' 15(02)149-170〕 The enactment of the various environmental laws, instruments and regulations through the last two decades was paralleled by a stepwise increase of the bureaucratic status and capacity of these environmental authorities.〔Jahiel, A. (1998) 'The organization of Environmental Protection in China', China Quarterly, 156, 757-758〕 For instance, the NEPA was elevated via the National Environmental Protection Bureau to the National Environmental Protection Agency (in 1988), and in 1998 it received ministerial status as SEPA.〔Mol, A.P.J.,Neil, T. Carter (2006) 'China's Environmental governance in transition', ''Environmental Politics'' 15(02)149-170〕 By 1995, the ‘environmental state’ of China had got over 88,000 employees across China and by 2004 it had grown to over 160,000 employees. According to Jahiel (1998: 776 cited in Carter et al., 2007) on this environmental bureaucracy: ‘‘the past 15 years has seen the assembly of an extensive institutional system nation-wide and the increase of its rank’’. Besides the SEPA, the State Development Planning Commission (SDPC) and the State Economic and Trade Commission (SETC) are important national state agencies in environmental protection, especially since the recent governmental reorganization.〔Carter, N.T. and Mol, A.P.J. (2007) Environment Governance in China. London: Routledge〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Environmental governance in China」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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