Zhao Yingmin
Vice Minister, MEP
2016-11-11
Chemicals are ubiquitous in modern society. Chemicals, while catalyzing the advances of human society, bring about unneglectable safety, health, and environmental risks as well. Therefore, it has become the global consensus and challenge to better manage the chemicals, promote their benefits and eliminate their hazards, and minimize the considerable impact of their production and use on the human health and the environment.
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) have become a close concern of the international community in the field of chemicals, since they take a long time to degrade, are toxic and bio-accumulative, and transport in long ranges. The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (hereinafter referred to as SC) was officially endorsed in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, in 2001, and China was one of the first signatory countries.
Over the past 15 years, China has highly valued the implementation of SC, and step by step, explored and established a package of institutions, mechanisms and patterns for such implementation with Chinese characteristics.
First, China has established implementation mechanisms. The implementation of SC involves a myriad of sectors, ranging from agricultural, metallurgical, chemical, building, medical, electricity, electroplating, to electronic and electrical products. In 2005, the State Council approved the establishment of National Coordination Group for Stockholm Convention Implementation, which consists of 14 State departments and commissions including MEP, MFA and NDRC, and shaped a framework in which multiple departments each performs their own functions and together advance the implementation of SC.
Second, China has improved the policies, laws and regulations. In 2007, the State Council adopted the “National Implementation Plan for Implementation of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants in China”, which specifies the implementation objectives, tasks, and measures. In October 2010, nine State departments and commissions including MEP released the “Guidelines for Strengthening the Prevention and Control of Dioxins Pollution”. NDRC released the “Directory for Industrial Restructuring”, which lists the “development and application of alternatives to POPs products” under the category of “to encourage” and DDT and other POPs under the category of “to eliminate”. In 2015, China amended the “Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law”, which specifically provides that the enterprises and public institutions shall adopt technical methods and processes that help reduce the POPs release and attain emission standards.
Third, China has consolidated the groundwork. The central government has spent about one bn. yuan in over 200 scientific research programs on the environmental impact of POPs and the alternative and reduction technologies, in order to strengthen the S&T support. MEP has designed a statistical statement for unintentionally released POPs, accumulated basic information, and gradually set up an implementation team with high quality, proficient skills, abundant experience, and capability and high efficiency, which provided efficient technical support for the negotiations of the SC, the policy studies, and the project management.
Fourth, China has increased the financial inputs. China has implemented over 50 industry-specific, sector-specific international projects at different stages on SC implementation, secured more than 200 mil. U.S. dollar GEF grants and bilateral grants, in addition to over 600 mil. U.S. dollar domestic matching funds, and in multiple industries such as agricultural, health, building, waste disposal, iron and steel, and paper making industries, launched the elimination of intentional production and use of POPs and the reduction and control of unintentionally released POPs, and advanced the demonstration, application and spread of BAT and BEP in key industries.
Fifth, China has actively engaged in the global implementation of the SC. China has attended the COPs and the new POPs review committee meetings, and recommended specialists to join the new POPs review committee, global POPs monitoring team, and BAT guideline drafting team. China has also produced and released the songs and games for POPs publicity in six languages, which have been forwarded by the SC Secretariat, GEF, and UNEP. The country has played an exemplary role for other countries in terms of SC implementation and been commended for multiple times by the Executive Secretary.
Over the past fifteen years, China has been very effective in the SC implementation, which can be demonstrated by the following facts. China has eliminated the production, use, import and export of 17 POPs including DDT. The dioxins emission intensity has been cut down by over 15% in the iron ore sintering, non-ferrous metal recycling, waste incineration, and other key industries. More than 50,000 t POPs-containing obsolete wastes in almost 100 sites have been cleared up, and a batch of POPs-related environmental problems that posed serious threat to the public health have been settled.
So far, the SC-regulated POPs have grown from 12 initial POPs to 26 ones, and new POPs will be evaluated and listed in the future. POPs will be restricted and prohibited in more sectors, and the SC implementation tasks will be increasingly arduous. China as the largest developing country and a large producer and user of chemicals produces and uses dozens of thousands of chemicals and faces greater challenges in better management of chemicals.
In 2015, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council released the “Guidelines for Accelerating the Promotion of Ecological Progress”, requiring establishing sound work mechanisms for prevention and control of environmental risks from the chemicals and POPs. The “Outline of the 13th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development” clearly proposes to “enhance capacity building for the evaluation of environment and health risks from toxic and hazardous chemical substances.”
Looking into the future, the Ministry will continue its collaboration with relevant State departments and commissions, make greater efforts, face up to the difficulties, evaluate the environment and health risks of chemical substances, strictly restrict the production and use of high-risk chemicals, and gradually phase them out or develop alternatives. We’re also ready to work with the international community on a wide range of cooperation programs, learn the state-of-art managerial concepts and technologies, share experience, honor our international commitments, and make due contributions to advancing the sustainable development of the human society and achieving the 2030 sustainable development goals of the UN.
