The World Bank and China's Environment 1993-2003

China's environmental degradation has developed over centuries, but record recent rates of economic growth have now widened environmental impacts and accelerated many adverse trends. China's urbanization and industrialization have produce...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Varley, Robert C.G.
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2014
Subjects:
AIR
CO
CO2
COD
ESP
GAS
LNG
NOX
ODS
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2005/04/20106294/world-bank-chinas-environment-1993-2003
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/20208
Description
Summary:China's environmental degradation has developed over centuries, but record recent rates of economic growth have now widened environmental impacts and accelerated many adverse trends. China's urbanization and industrialization have produced rising material standards of living but have ever more costly environmental consequences. The period 1992-2001 coincided with a renewed Bank commitment to the environment, culminating in a new 2001 Bank environmental strategy. For the evaluation period there were four policies against which environmental performance can be judged: mainstreaming the environment; enforcing environmental safeguards; implementing a global agenda; and environmental stewardship. The environment and social sector development sector management unit (SMU) has a small professional staff and manages the few Bank-funded specialized environment projects. The Bank provided intellectual leadership and when economic sector work (ESW) was critical, the stakes were so high that the overall cost-effectiveness of ESW was assured. Rightly the Bank participated enthusiastically and shared knowledge with a pluralistic group of donors allied to Chinese research institutes and non-government organizations (NGOs).