In recent years, China has launched ambitious measures to tackle water pollution. As political commitment and public investment soared, Chinese environmental scientists and practitioners have engaged in a substantial debate on the reorganization of the country's water management system. Domestic discussion has largely revolved around best practices adopted abroad, particularly in the European Union (EU), where the Water Framework Directive (WFD) has introduced an integrated management model based on the core concept of unity of the water cycle. This paper seeks to contribute to this debate, by appraising the regulatory, administrative, monitoring, and public participation dimensions of China's water environmental management. Related progress and constraints are discussed in the evolving context of Chinese environmental policies, against the background of the relevant EU experience. Regulatory and administrative coordination and integration, and the adoption of a watershed-based management model, appear at present as essential prerequisites to overcome the fragmentation of China's water environmental management. Despite recent efforts in this direction, institutional rationalization is still hampered by the persistence of conflicting interests and attributions among government bodies concurring to law making and implementation.

China's water environmental management towards institutional integration. A review of current progress and constraints vis-a-vis the European experience

BROMBAL, Daniele;Moriggi, Angela;CRITTO, Andrea;MARCOMINI, Antonio
2016-01-01

Abstract

In recent years, China has launched ambitious measures to tackle water pollution. As political commitment and public investment soared, Chinese environmental scientists and practitioners have engaged in a substantial debate on the reorganization of the country's water management system. Domestic discussion has largely revolved around best practices adopted abroad, particularly in the European Union (EU), where the Water Framework Directive (WFD) has introduced an integrated management model based on the core concept of unity of the water cycle. This paper seeks to contribute to this debate, by appraising the regulatory, administrative, monitoring, and public participation dimensions of China's water environmental management. Related progress and constraints are discussed in the evolving context of Chinese environmental policies, against the background of the relevant EU experience. Regulatory and administrative coordination and integration, and the adoption of a watershed-based management model, appear at present as essential prerequisites to overcome the fragmentation of China's water environmental management. Despite recent efforts in this direction, institutional rationalization is still hampered by the persistence of conflicting interests and attributions among government bodies concurring to law making and implementation.
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
Deng et al. 2015_China Water Env Management.pdf

non disponibili

Tipologia: Documento in Post-print
Licenza: Accesso chiuso-personale
Dimensione 899.42 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
899.42 kB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in ARCA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10278/3662861
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 40
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 36
social impact