Abstract
An environmental management system provides the institutional foundation for sound environmental governance. Conventional environmental management systems, deriving from the combination of the vertical management of competent authorities and the localized management of local governments, can lead to local protectionism and implementation deviation at the local level. Since 2016, environmental vertical management reform has been performed as a significant part of the overall promotion of the ecological civilization in China. Representing the most fundamental reform of China’s local environmental management system since the Environmental Protection Law of 1989, the environmental vertical management reform focuses on the reconstruction and adjustment of the environmental management functions among the local governments, and their environment protection authorities at the provincial, city, and county levels. In this paper, we provide an overview of the basic theory of the vertical management model, as well as the motivation for—and the legal/policy background, focuses/content, local practices, and results of—the environmental vertical management reform in China. In the discussion section, we analyze the current problems that impede the effectiveness and sustainability of this reform. On the basis of the analysis of the present and the problems, we raise the question of whether this round of reform is effective and will be sustainable in the future. In response to the challenges, feasible recommendations are proposed. These suggestions include firmly promoting the rule of law in the process of implementing the reform, enhancing the institutional supply and capacity building at the grassroots level, and taking advantage of the holistic governance under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
Highlights
IntroductionChina’s environmental legal system has given rise to many plans, many policies, and much legislation, it has been plagued by ‘weak law enforcement’, referring to the poor results from the enforcement of environmental laws, and ‘difficult law enforcement’, meaning systematic impediments to the monitoring and management work of law enforcement entities
China’s environmental legal system has given rise to many plans, many policies, and much legislation, it has been plagued by ‘weak law enforcement’, referring to the poor results from the enforcement of environmental laws, and ‘difficult law enforcement’, meaning systematic impediments to the monitoring and management work of law enforcement entities.The ineffective environmental management system has created a bottleneck in the government’s environmental protection work, and is a systemic cause of environmental pollution and ecological destruction (Ran 2015)
These suggestions include firmly promoting the rule of law in the process of implementing the reform, enhancing the institutional supply and capacity building at the grassroots level, and taking advantage of the holistic governance under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC)
Summary
China’s environmental legal system has given rise to many plans, many policies, and much legislation, it has been plagued by ‘weak law enforcement’, referring to the poor results from the enforcement of environmental laws, and ‘difficult law enforcement’, meaning systematic impediments to the monitoring and management work of law enforcement entities. The ineffective environmental management system has created a bottleneck in the government’s environmental protection work, and is a systemic cause of environmental pollution and ecological destruction (Ran 2015). The environmental management system refers to the environment protection authorities across all of the levels established by the state, their assigned powers, and their assumed responsibilities. In order to address the conspicuous problems affecting China’s environmental management system during this challenging time, with China ‘plunging into the deep end’ in its commitment to strive toward an ecological civilization, systemic reform has become the central task.
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