Local govt.put atop energy saving, pollution reduction

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-03-04 10:39

China's local governments say they are determined to reach 2007 energy saving and pollution reduction goals, after the country dipped out on last year's targets.

At annual sessions of local people's congresses and people's political consultative conferences in January and February, provincial governments have put energy saving and pollution reduction goals at the top of their 2007 agendas.

China has committed itself to improving energy efficiency -- its goal is to cut energy consumption by 20 percent per unit of GDP, along with a 10 percent cut in major pollutants, between 2006and 2010.

China's per unit of GDP energy consumption fell 1.23 percent in2006, well short of the projected target of 4 percent, official figures released this week show.

China also failed to achieve its pollution reduction goal, with major pollutants, including sulfur dioxide emissions and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) both increasing last year.

The central government has reacted vigorously.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced in January that China would close small coal-fired power units with total annual capacity of 50 million kilowatts over the next four years.

Analysts say that success or failure with the 20 percent targetis crucial to China's sustainable prosperity. But success depends on local implementation with some provinces notoriously turning a deaf ear to central government vows to cut energy consumption.

With mounting pressure from the central authority and an outcry from the public, provincial governors are at last waking up to the importance of energy conservation and environmental protection.

Liang Baohua, governor of Jiangsu Province, said in his report to the provincial people's congress that this "year's energy saving and pollution control goals are compulsory and must be achieved, while the economic growth rate of 11 percent is flexible and can be adjusted according to practical situations."

For two decades, economic growth was the overriding consideration in local development and the sole criterion for judging local government performance. The new priorities represent a drastic and unprecedented change.

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