Transparency and information disclosure in China's environmental governance

Abstract

Given its past as a so-called information-poor and authoritarian country, China has recently made remarkable progress in information disclosure and environmental transparency. Since enacting the Open Government Information Regulations and the Environmental Information Disclosure Measures in 2008, China has advanced the actual amount of environmental information disclosed to civil society actors, the diversification and pluralism of environmental information suppliers and users, and the diversification in the methods of transparency and disclosure. This has significantly changed environmental governance in China. In practice, however, practical and more fundamental problems and limitations in environmental information disclosure continue to exist in China. Moreover, it is not yet clear what the actual effect of information disclosure is on environmental pollution reduction and environmental quality.