June5,2018:AnecologicallyrestoredfluoritemineinJiaojiazhuangTownship,JinchangCity,GansuProvince,intheQilianMountainsNationalNatureReserve.byFanPeishen/XinhuaTheQilianMountainsserveasanimportantecologicalshelterfornorthwesternChinaaswellasthemainwaterconservationareaforGansuandQinghaiprovincesandtheInnerMongoliaAutonomousRegion.However,afterdecadesofextensive,disordereddevelopment,thelocalecosystemhasfallenintocrisis.Humanactivitiessuchasmining,tourismdevelopment,agricultureandanimalhusbandryhaveexertedanunbearableburdenontheregion’sfragileecosystem.Moreover,worseningglobalwarminghascausedthesnowlinesoftheQilianMountainstocontinuerisingandtheglaciersdeepinthemountainstomeltfasterandfaster,resultinginanexacerbationoftheecologicalcrisisinthelowerreaches.
InJuly2017,theChinesegovernmentissuedacircularonecologicaldegradationoftheQilianMountainsNationalNatureReserve,whichlistsprominentproblemscausingthedevastationoflocalecosystemsuchasillegalmining,illegalhydroelectricdevelopment,illicitwastedischargeandinadequateenvironmentalprotectionmeasures.
Essentially,theecologicalcrisisintheQilianMountainsisaresultof“marketdysfunction”and“governmentdysfunction.”Eitherminingenterprisesorhydroelectricprojectswillcontinuetocausemoreenvironmentalpollution.Fromtheperspectiveofmarketlaw,enterprisesnaturallymustcontinueexpandingtheirproductionscales.Withouteffectiveexternalregulationandthemarketinteraction,disorderlydevelopmentwillonlycausesevereenvironmentalproblemsovertime.
GovernmentdysfunctionisasignificantfactorintheecologicalcrisisoftheQilianMountains.AccordingtotheJuly2017circular,environmentalproblemsplaguingtheregionarecausedbyoperationsandprojectsthatreceivedillicitapproval.Forinstance,ofmorethan150hydroelectricstationsalongtheHeihe,ShiyangandShuleriversintheQilianMountainsregion,42arelocatedinprotectedareasofthenaturereserve.Commonillegalpracticesincludeimproperapproval,constructionbeforeapprovalandincompleteprocedures.Mostillegallyapprovedandconstructedprojectsneglecttheimportanceofecologicalprotection.Comparedtothedamageasingleprivateenterprisecancause,governmentalmalpracticeinapprovingconstructionthatlacksenvironmentalawarenesscausesevengreaterdamagetotheecosystem.
Toalargeextent,theenvironmentalproblemsplaguingtheQilianMountainsarefueledbythelocalgovernment’sthirstforeconomicgrowth.Duetoastrongpreferenceforextensiveeconomicgrowth,thelocalgovernmentlacksthemotivationtoprioritizeenvironmentalproblems.Infact,suchpreferencehasbeenthesinglegreatestcauseofecologicaldegradationoftheQilianMountains,evengreaterthanlocalenterprisesandmarketfactors.Thelocalgovernment’serrorliesinsacrificingthelocalecosystemforthesakeofdevelopingtheeconomy.
TheenvironmentalcrisisplaguingtheQilianMountainsmustbesolvedbyadjustingtheeconomicgrowthmode.However,decision-makingmechanismsoflocalgovernmentandpolicymakersareusuallymorecomplicatedthantheeconomy,resultingindelaysinpolicyformulationandintervention.
WhatisthebestwaytosolvetheecologicalcrisisintheQilianMountains?Accordingtotraditionalenvironmentaleconomics,enterprises’impactontheenvironmentgrowsdaybydaywiththeiroperationalactivities.Duetodysfunctionofboththegovernmentandthemarket,damagetoresourcesandtheenvironmenthasreachedatippingpointafterlong-termaccumulation,resultinginresourceandecologicalcrises.Dysfunctionofthemarketandthegovernmentneedstobeovercomeinearnestbeforeitistoolate.ThisshouldbetheprimaryconcerninpolicydesignstoaddresstheecologicalcrisisoftheQilianMountains.
Fromtheperspectiveofmacroenvironmentaleconomics,imbalancebetweentheenvironmentandeconomicsistheprimaryreasonforcurrentsevereecologicaldegradation.Onlybyaddressingtheimbalancedrelationshipandcorrectingtheimproperresourceallocationbetweenenvironmentalprotectionandeconomicgrowthcanwerealizethesimultaneousadvancementoftheenvironmentandtheeconomyandachieve“greendevelopment.”
Basedonsuchlogic,threemajorsolutionscouldtreattheecologicalcrisisoftheQilianMountains:rectifyingthemarket,regulatingthegovernmentandpromotinggreendevelopment.
RectifyingthemarketreferstomeasurestostrengthenenvironmentalregulationofmarketbehaviorssuchasproductionandconsumptionandformulateenvironmentalstandardsinlinewiththeenvironmentcarryingcapacityoftheQilianMountains.Asanationalnaturereserve,theQilianMountainsshouldsetstricterthresholdsforenvironmentalprotectionthanotherregions.Infact,tighteningenvironmentalstandardsprotectstheeconomyfromthethreatofecologicaldegradationandimprovesitbypromotingthedevelopmentofbetterproductionandconsumptionmeans.Tothisend,diversepolicytoolsincludinglaws,economicincentivesandfinancialpoliciesaswellaspubliceducationonenvironmentalprotectionshouldbeemployedtobalancesocialcostsandreturnsinecologicalresourceutilization,optimallycorrectimproperresourceallocationandmaximizetheefficiencyofresourceutilization.
Regulatingthegovernmentreferstotheeradicationofgovernmentdysfunction.Currently,duetoapreferenceforeconomicgrowth,localgovernmentsdon’tdoenoughorevenovertlyharmtheenvironment,whichhasbecometheheartofenvironmentalproblems.Notonlyshouldlocalgovernmentsperformtheirdutieswithintheframeworkoflawstoensuretheyproperlyfulfilltheirresponsibilitiesinenvironmentalprotection,butalsolocalleadersshouldbeassessedbyasystemthatunderlinestheimportanceofecologicalimprovementsothatlocalgovernmentswillbemotivatedtoshouldertheirobligationsinenvironmentalprotectionandproperlyplaytheirroleas“gatekeepers”ofthemarket.
Promotinggreendevelopmentrequiresintegratingeconomicgrowthandecologicalimprovementtobetterprotecttheenvironmentwhiledevelopingtheeconomy.Boththeoryandpracticehaveshownthateconomicdevelopmentcanbolsterenvironmentalprotectionbecausethelattercannotbeachievedwithoutthesupportofnecessarymanpowerandresources.Economicdevelopmentcanenhancethecapacitybuildingforenvironmentalprotectionandconstantlyinject“freshblood”intothecauseofecologicalimprovement.Ofcourse,economicdevelopmentmustbeeco-friendly.TheQilianMountainsNationalNatureReservepresentsapristineexample:Theregion’seconomicdevelopmentandenvironmentalprotection,infact,donotconflicteachother.Theregioncancontinuecarryingoutproductionandoperatingactivitieswhileadheringtorelevantnationalenvironmentalprotectionstandards,andatthesametimeitcanuseitsadvantagesasanaturereservetodevelopspecializedindustriessuchashigh-value-addedforestry,hightechanimalhusbandryandthe“InternetPlus”economytoexpandthemarketandincreaserevenues.
Since2017,theprovincialgovernmentofGansuhastakenactiontoaddresstheecologicalcrisisoftheQilianMountains.Itformulatedandenactedthestrictestenvironmentalprotectionstandards,dismantledandclosedenterprisesviolatingrelevantenvironmentalregulations,shutdownorrenovated42hydroelectricstationsanddeployedvideoanddatamonitoringequipmenttoensureadequatewaterdischargetothelowerreachesoftherivers.IntheupgradefromanaturereservetoQilianMountainsNationalPark,thelocalgovernmentdoubledthespaceofprotectedarea.Gansuunveiledablueprintforfuturedevelopmentof10majorgreenindustriesincludingenergyconservation,environmentalprotectionandculturaltourismtofurtherpromotegreendevelopment.ThesemeasuresareexpectedtobalanceeconomicgrowthandenvironmentalprotectionandachievegreendevelopmentintheQilianMountains.
June5,2018:WorkerscheckwaterdischargeconditionsatLongshouHydroelectricStationintheQilianMountainsNationalNatureReserve.Thehydroelectricstationadoptsaself-controlledsluicemoduletoensurenaturalwaterdischargetothelowerreachesoftheriver.byFanPeishen/XinhuaMay8,2018:WorkersplantsprucesinanecologicalrestorationzoneinSunanCounty,GansuProvince,intheQilianMountainsNationalNatureReserve.Since2017,theQilianMountainsregionhassteadilypromotedecologicalrestoration,withearlyresultshavingalreadybeenachieved.VCGTheauthorisdeputydirectoroftheResearchCenterforEnvironmentalEconomicsatFudanUniversity.