A PROGRESS REPORT AND FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS ON THE PROJECT OFECONOMIC PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

　　Ⅰ.Main progress of the Task Force since last year 

　　With the efforts of all the experts and research personnel of the project of economic planning and environmental protection,the main achievements have been gained in the following aspects:

　　1.For the research project of establishing an integrated decisionmaking mechanism of economic planning and environmental protection in China,rich fruits have been achieved under the fund support of European Community and through the efforts of every expert.The project fruits mainly include a master report,seven monographic reports and four casearea reports.The monographic reports cover deep studies on the integrated decisionmaking mechanism of environment and development in the aspects of the basic intention,theoretical framework,major obstacles,foreign experiences,tactics according with China's realities, supporting models and public participation,and so on.The case areas mainly include Huairou County of Beijing Municipality,Guangzhou Section of Zhejiang River,Zhuhai City of Guangdong Province and Yangzhou City of Jiangsu Province.Through case studies of four different kinds of areas,we have summarized the methods of coordinating the relationship between local economic development and its environmental protection and establishing the integrated decisionmaking mechanism of environment and development.

　　2.For the three sector research topics of energy,environmental industry and forest protection which have been conceived attached to the master topic,progresses of various extents have been obtained through the common efforts of both Chinese and foreign sides.Countries and international organizations concerned have given their supports and help as possible .The relative departments of the Chinese side have done a lot of coordinating work and have further discussed on the purposes,focal points,methods of these tree topics.

　　3.An "International Meeting on Energy Technology Finance for Sustainable Development in China"was held in Beijing on 26-27 July 1999.The participants were about 100 people,including the famous government officials,statesmen,scholars and entrepreneurs at home and abroad.This conference dealt mainly with the following issues:

　　a.China's energy strategy and its environmental consequences;

　　b. The environmental impacts of energy production,transportation and utilization and related countermeasures. 

　　c. An environmentally sound financing strategy and conditions for foreign investment for the development of China's energy sector. 

　　d. Building capacity for comprehensive policy making for energy investment in an environmentally responsible manner. 

　　e. Recommendations for international cooperation on energy technology and finance to achieve environmentally sound development. 

　　4.An "International Review Meeting on the Proposals for the Integration of Economic Planning and Environmental Protection" was held on 29-30 July 1999.Mr.Liu Jiang,CoChair of the Task Force and the duputy Chairman of the State Development Planning Commission,attended the opening ceremony and made an important speech.Mr.Martin Lees,the international cochairman,invited nearly 20 foreign experts attending this seminar.Mr.Rui Xingwen,(the former Vice Chairman of the State Development Planning Commission),Mr Zhang Kunming(the secretarygeneral of CCICED), and the integrated coordination group of the project,the whole staff of the expert group and other experts,in total more than 50 people attended this meeting

　　5.The progress is accelerating for bilateral cooperation.Governments of Sweden,Norway and other parties have expressed their interests early or late in cooperating with our Task Force in the field of environment and planning,among which the cooperation field with Sweden has been tentatively determined as the project of "Capital Ecological Sphere".In addition,World Bank,Institute of the Earth Environmental Strategy of Japan and Secretary Division of Energy Chart have also expressed their intention of carrying our cooperation with the workshop in the aspects of "China's Energy and Environment","China's Urbanization and Environment"and "Energy Chart",and so on.

　　Ⅱ.Considerations for the next step of the project 

　　As for the work of our Task Force in the coming period,we think it should be combined more closely with the tasks of the department of Regional Economy of the State Development Planning Commission,the working group is expected to be one of the main forces for the Department of Regional Economy of SDPC in the area of environment and resource management.In the near future,the main tasks are as follows:

　　1.Modifying "China Agenda 21". The "China Agenda 21" approved by the State Council in 1994 has played an important role in the whole country and exerted broad international influences.But the concrete objectives put forward in "China Agenda 21" focused on the year of 2000.Since many changes have taken place of the situation both at home and abroad,part of the contents in "China Agenda 21" is not adaptable for the demand of current work.Therefore,it is necessary for us to develop " Sustainable Development Program"  on the basis of "China Agenda 21" focusing on the year of 2020,putting forward the goal,tasks and operational policies that promote the sustainable development in the field of population, resource,environment and so on.

　　2.Working out plans for resource and environmental protection.Combining with the formulation of "The Tenth Five-Year Plan",we shall do relevant research work and put forward sustainable development plan,which will include the monographic plans of significant environmental issues,the regional and water basin plans of the key control areas,and the study on supply-demand problem of the national water resource should also be conducted.

　　3.Doing researches on the relative policies and promoting the departments and areas concerned to put forward their related policies.The analysis of economic feasibility for the environmental policies is required by coordinating with the departments concerned.Some studies on the prospect of improving environmental management should be carried out by the economic means under the circumstances of market economy and some policy measures should also be proposed in the aspects of resource saving and rational utilization.Recently,the formulation of an assessment system for sustainable development should be stressed and its assessment method should be studied and proposed as well.Thus,the departments which are responsible for policy making,planning and the approval of project construction can actively make their self-assessments with the goal of implementing the strategy of sustainable development and therefore some serious errors in decision-making can be avoided.In addition,it is necessary to integrating resource and environment into the national economic accounting system in some selected industries and areas as and experiment.Adapt to the reform of planning system,it is necessary to integrate resource and environment into the national economic and social development planning system,and to make the allocation of the important resources such as water and land and the allot of total amount of pollution discharge become the means of macroregulating and control which are directly dominated by the government.

　　4. In the light of the impacts of the environmental issues on the national economic and social development,the priority fields and the major projects of resource protection and environmental management will be proposed.

　　In line with the recent working plans of the Department of Regional Economy Development in the aspect of resource and environment,the Task Force on Environmental Protection and Economic Planning will carry out the following concrete activities this year:

　　1.Further carrying out the research topic on establishing an integrated decision-making mechanism of economic planning and environmental protection.We will further improve the master report,the monographic reports and the demonstrationarea reports through the field investigation and research activities at home and abroad,and make them play their proper roles through appropriate forms,especially provide the references for the development of the Tenth Five-Year Plan.

　　2.Further carrying out the international cooperation in the aspects of ecological environmental protection,comprehensive utilization of marine resources,modification of "China Agenda 21".The Task Force will start the Sino-Swedish project of "Capital Ecological Sphere"and the start up meeting will be in 15 September. By further discussion with Norwegian government,the specific research project can be decided and its objectives and tasks can be clear.

　　3.According to the original working scheme,the project will go on seeking the possible cooperation opportunities in the fields of energy,environmental industry and so on.

　　Ⅲ.Suggestions to the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development

　　Throughout the year,the Task Force has made active efforts in the aspect of putting forward suggestions on policymaking to the China Council.Those suggestions have raised much attention and response from the representatives both at home and abroad.Suggestions proposed by the working group this year will be more concrete and operational,which mainly include the following items:

　　1.Accelerating to establish and improve the system that the People's Congress of each level supervises and takes part in the work of environmental protection,especially supervise the implementation of environmental protection plans regularly.

　　2.Playing full roles of the C.P.P.C.C.at each level,gradually establishing the auditing system about the planning development and the implementation of environmental protection.

　　3.Trial implementing the system of environmental impact assessment on regional development activities,and first selecting some key areas as experimental sites for establishing this assessment system.

　　4.Implementing the accounting system of resource and environment,continuing the r

　　eform of present national economic accounting system,and selecting some areas and industries to make use of the methods abroad for resource and environment accounting.Selecting some important and operational indexes of resource and environm

　　ent and bringing these indexes into the current national economic accounting system,then gradually establishing the new national economic accounting system that is beneficial to promoting the sustainable development.

　　5.Perfecting and normalizing the assessment,rewards and punishment system for the governments at each level.Improving the responsibility system by leaders of government for the present family planning and environmental protection,and gradually carrying out this system in the aspects of land and cultivated land protection,mineral resource etc.Strengthening the administrative ability at each level of the governments in the management of population,resource and environment.

　　6.Setting up and amplifying the systems of forecast and alarm, monitoring, information feedback for the significant environmental disasters in the key areas of the whole country.The investment should also be strengthened based on the current monitoring sites and monitoring net for environmental disaster.Some new monitoring sites in some key areas and the disastersensitive areas should be augmented.Relying on the modern information technology,disaster monitoring,and forecast and alarm system that covers the whole country should be established.

　　7.Drawing the successful experiences and lessons from the implementation of the Ninth Five-Year environmental protection plan,the Tenth Five-Year environmental protection plan,the national development strategies for environmental industry and cleaner production should be developed by adopting new ideas and applying the integrated decisionmaking mechanism.

　　8.Establishing an integrated decision-making mechanism of environmental protection and economic planning,developing comprehensive management plans for some specific areas(such as the Capital Ecological Sphere,the Yellow River Basin,the Bohai Sea,etc.)Accumulating experiences of promoting the coordination of environmental protection and economic development through the implementation of these plans.