Chinese report by Guo Wei & Lv Wangshu, CENEWS

The ninth plenary session of State Environment Advisory Committee & MEP Science and Technology Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Two Committees) was held in Beijing recently. Vice Minister Huang Runqiu spoke at the plenary session and hoped that the Two Committees would continue to facilitate the improvement of environmental quality by focusing on the national key environmental protection tasks and taking innovation as the main theme.

Huang pointed out that since the 18th National Congress of the CPC was held, the CPC Central Committee has placed the development of ecological civilization at a more outstanding and strategic position, and released the Opinions on Accelerated Promotion of Ecological Progress and the Master Plan for the Institutional Reform of Ecological Civilization, which provided top-down design for the institutional reform of ecological civilization. In recent years, the environmental legal framework has been constantly improved, with the enforcement of the new environment protection law as the landmark. A series of major reform measures have been introduced and run throughout all areas of environmental protection, around the core of improving the environmental quality. The fifth plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee proposed the five major development ideas of “innovation, coordination, green, opening-up, and sharing”, among which the idea of innovation tops the five ideas. The innovation in environmental S&T needs to aim at key S&T issues in the environment sector, overcome key problems, and offer S&T support for putting up a good fight against air, water, and soil pollution and preserving the nature and ecology; serve the decision-making for environmental management, give support to the development of a sound framework of laws, regulations, and standards, and advance the modernization of the ecological environment governance framework and capacity; work harder on the reform of the S&T institutions, standardize the S&T activities and behaviors, and create a healthy environment for the innovation in environmental S&T.

Huang expressed heartfelt gratitude to the Two Committees for their positive contributions to the promotion of the environmental protection undertaking for a long period. He said that as a major mechanism for increasing the scientific elements in making environmental protection decisions, the Two Committees have contributed recommendations on environmental protection from multiple perspectives, at plural levels, and from many dimensions, and played a remarkable role in all of this. In the next step, we will give more play to the supportive role of the Two Committees in decision-making process. First, we will fulfill our duties and responsibilities, and take the initiative to accomplish the main tasks of contributing recommendations, offering consultancy and argumentation, and clearing doubts. Second, we will offer better services, improve the mechanisms, open up smooth channels for the communications of the members of the Two Committees, and improve their efficiency in contributing wisdoms. Third, we will highlight our characteristics, make use of our advantages, and give better play to our respective characteristics in accordance with the requirements for delicate environmental management.

Huang emphasized that the 13th Five-Year Plan period is a crucial period for making great deeds and marching forward with heavy burden, and a period for overcoming difficulties and achieving the overall improvement of environmental quality. Opportunities and challenges coexist, so do driving forces and stress. He hoped that the Two Committees would contribute more recommendations in the following four respects and continue to advance the improvement of environmental quality, around the key national environmental protection tasks and the theme of innovation: first, enhancing the studies on major strategic issues around the new requirements for environmental protection; second, exploring the new pathways and breakthroughs in environmental governance through S&T innovation; third, draw a blueprint for the development of environmental institutions around the reform of institutions and mechanisms; fourth, advance the green transitions and development around the application of new technologies.

At the session, 63 committee members voiced a lot of constructive recommendations on major issues including the design of a roadmap and development plan for padding up the short plank of ecological environment, around the blueprint of the 13th Five-Year Plan for national eco-environmental conservation, and centering on the core of improving the environmental quality.