Tightening the grip: environmental governance under Xi Jinping

Abstract

In the space of a few years, China's global image with regard to environmental matters has significantly improved. Particularly since Xi Jinping's coming-to-power in 2012 China's reputation in the global climate change regime has improved markedly and it has gained accolades for a new determination to reverse environmental degradation at home. China's incipient green transformation is partly due to a new actor constellation in environmental governance, a striking feature of which is the prominence of ad hoc campaigns that offer quick results but that may undermine the creation of law-based enforcement mechanisms in the long term. Another development-China's increasing use of emerging technologies and big data analyticshas given rise to new forms of government-business alliances. These new players and innovative approaches have injected momentum into China's environmental governance system and suggest that, contrary to conventional wisdom, authoritarian regimes can be responsive to citizen demands under certain circumstances. Yet it remains to be seen whether long-term environmental goals can be met, due to a pervasive lack of accountability, the weakening of civil society and heavy constraints on public participation.

Network Analysis of Actors and Policy Keywords for Sustainable Environmental Governance: Focusing on Chinese Environmental Policy

“…For example, Dongjiang Lake in Hunan Province is divided between and managed by four local governments. Their different management systems for unpolluted areas (tourism resources) and polluted areas (coal mining) were primary reasons hindering water pollution resolution [33]. Thus, it is more efficient for a complete ecosystem, such as lakes, rivers, or wetlands, to be managed by the leader of one local government organization rather than by different ministries and local governments.…”

“…Therefore, since 2015, China's State Council implemented the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan to increase the number of urban sewage treatment facilities, strengthen the crackdown on the unauthorized discharge of wastewater, and purify the rivers. Through this plan, China aims to raise the water quality of 70% or higher of the basins of the seven rivers, including the Yangtze River and Yellow River, to an excellent level by 2020 [33].…”

Back to the future: Can Chinese doubling down and American muddling through fulfill 21st century needs for environmental governance?

“…In addition to the continued broadening and deepening of plans, the leadership has launched governance reforms that reinforce the dominant governance processes through strengthened and centralized environmental enforcement in which the Party directs and oversees implementation (Kostka & Nahm, ; Kostka & Zhang, ; Van Rooij, Zhu, Li, & Wang, ). Two important new mechanisms initiated by the party/central government are the national environmental supervision system ( zhongyang huanbao ducha ) and vertical management reforms in the environmental bureaucracy, both launched in 2016.…”

Governing energy consumption in China: a comprehensive assessment of the energy conservation target responsibility system

“…More training is needed, and more resources need to be invested in energy data collection. In the long run, the introduction of an independent energy monitoring agency, the centralization of energy data collection, and the use of big data monitoring could improve the quality of energy consumption statistics and reduce local interference [26,66]. Last but not least, China's energy governance is undergoing a series of market-oriented reforms, such as the introduction of carbon trading [67,68] and the adoption of demand-side management in the context of ongoing power sector reforms [69].…”