27°C | Light rain
Dec 29, 2010
Most mainland cities remained reluctant to reveal key pollution information to the public last year despite growing public calls and frequent environmental scandals, a new study found.
The project, now in its second year, is a joint attempt by the Beijing-based Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs and the US-based Natural Resources Defence Council to provide a transparency ranking for 113 mainland cities on government pollution data.
While several coastal cities saw modest progress on environmental openness last year, a large number of cities remained static. Fifteen, including Beijing, Tianjin and Hangzhou , regressed.
Ningbo , Shenzhen, Foshan and Shanghai rank at the top of the list, while Jinzhou in Liaoning , Chifeng in Inner Mongolia and Linfen in Shanxi were listed among the worst in terms of granting the public adequate access to key pollution information.
Ma Jun, head of the Beijing NGO, said the mixed results found in the study highlighted the difficulties in pushing for environmental transparency on the mainland despite a grim reality of degradation.
"Information transparency itself won't be able to solve environmental problems, but it is a prerequisite for public participation," he said. "We believe without fully involving the public, the campaign to reverse the country's environmental pollution can hardly make much progress."
The average pollution information transparency score for the 113 cities last year was only 36 out of 100 - slightly higher than in 2008. Eleven cities passed the 60 per cent mark last year, compared with only four cities reaching the same passing score in 2008.
The study revealed that authorities in Beijing and its neighbouring areas broke their Olympic promises last year to increase transparency and enhance public supervision.
"It remains a challenge to maintain the unprecedented level of information transparency promised after large events [such as the Beijing Olympics, the Shanghai World Expo and Guangzhou Asian Games]," the study said.
Speaking at the launch of the transparency index, Chen Shengliang , an environmental official from Chongqing , said the rather stringent Protection of State Secrets Law and the need to maintain stability had often left local authorities with no choice but to guard government information carefully. The study was based on more than 15,000 pieces of pollution-related information collected by Ma's online pollution database,he said. Eight different aspects of environmental transparency were included in compiling the list.
Apart from the regular release of information about industrial polluters and assessment of major projects, government responses to pollution complaints and public requests for environmental information are also important elements in gauging environmental transparency.
Alex Wang, a legal expert from the National Development and Reform Commission and a co-author of the study, said it remained to be seen whether the Zijin Mining pollution scandal early this year would be a turning point for environmental transparency. Citing concerns about panic and instability, the Hong Kong and Shanghai-listed company covered up a toxic spill which contaminated a river in Fujian for nearly 10 days in the country's worst metal poisoning scandal this year.
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