Barriers to the Implementation of Environmental Policies at the Local Level in China

Kostka, Genia

World Bank Group, Washington, DC

关键词: AIR;    AIR POLLUTION;    AIR QUALITY;    AIRPORTS;    ALLOCATION;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-7016
RP-ID  :  WPS7016

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

China's national leaders haverecently made a priority of changing lanes from apollution-intensive, growth-at-any-cost model to aresource-efficient and sustainable one. The immensechallenges of rapid urbanization are one aspect of theproblem. Central-local government relations are anothersource of challenges, since the central government'sgreen agenda does not always find willing followers at lowerlevels. This paper identifies barriers to a morecomprehensive implementation of environmental policies atthe local level in China's urban areas and suggestsways to reduce or remove them. The research focusesparticularly on the reasons for the gap between nationalplans and policy outcomes. Although environmental goals andpolicies at the national level are quite ambitious andcomprehensive, insufficient and inconsistent local levelimplementation can hold back significant improvements inurban environmental quality. By analyzing localinstitutional and behavioral obstacles and by highlightingbest-practice examples from China and elsewhere, the paperoutlines options that can be used at the national and locallevels to close the local "environmental implementationgap." The findings emphasize the need to createadditional incentives and increase local implementation capacities.