The State Council approved the National Tenth Five-Year Plan for Environmental Protection on 26 December 2001, requesting that loca1 governments and the various departments strengthen environmental protection in close relation with the economic restructuring; raise funds for environmental protection through multiple channels in connection with the expansion of domestic demand, and establish the mechanism of environmental protection with the government playing the dominant role with market promotion and public participation. The State Council emphasizes that local governments should undertake the major responsibilities of environmental protection. The governments at various levels should integrate the tasks of the Plan into the target responsibility system for provincial governors, mayors, and county heads. Periodic examination should be carried out on the targets of total pollutant discharge control and environmental quality. The implementation of the Plan should be inspected and reported on every year. The State Council requests that the relevant departments should provide guidance and support in implementing the Plan according to their respective responsibilities. The State Environmental Protection Administration should conduct coordinated supervision, management, and inspection of the implementation of the Plan.

Magazine of the United Nations Environment Programme discussing worldwide environmental policies and other concerns. This issue is devoted to the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference, know as the Copenhagen Summit, which sought an international agreement on climate change mitigation.

Magazine of the United Nations Environment Programme discussing worldwide environmental policies and other concerns. This issue is devoted the use of renewable energy in climate strategy and economic growth.

This report looks into the developments in China’s political response to the threat of climate change from the late 1980s when the problem emerged on the international political agenda, until 2004. Three theoretically based explanatory models are employed to identify the factors that have influenced Chinese foreign policy-making on climate change in the past, and furthermore how these factors are likely to influence China’s future climate change policy. The three models emphasize respectively: national interests in terms of costs and benefits; domestic political bargaining; and learning through diffusion of knowledge and norms.