Two additional departments in China’s environment ministry

2008-07-13 03:05:34 (GMT) (WiredPRNews.com - Green)

Dallas, Texas (WiredPRNews.com) — China’s Ministry of the Environmental Protection will now set up two monitoring and supervision departments in order to fight pollution. The introduction of the two departments in the environment ministry is expected to pave the way for the system in order to trade and cap emissions like SO2 (sulfur dioxide) from the industries.

The spokesperson for the Environment Ministry said that with the recent brief, the State Council has permitted the ministry to engage fifty more new employees for the departments, bringing the headcount to 300.

The extension signifies that the Environment Ministry will pay extra emphasis in controlling emissions universally and it is in line with the target of the country to slash ten percent of key pollutants by 2010-2011.

Mao Shoulong, the public policy professor of the Beijing-based Renmin University of China, added that the extension of the Environment Ministry’s departmental structure as well as the size of the staff signifies the strengthening of the environmental governance, and consequently of the environment ministry’s latest upgrade to a fully developed ministry.

In addition, with the expansion in the department, the country is expected to institute a nationalized cap and trade system for the SO2 emission in order to deal with the problem of pollution in the power industry. Nevertheless, the expansion needs a more specific and defined monitoring system of environmental quality incorporating the computation of the overall emissions.

According to the 21st century Business Herald, the country’s present environmental associated laws do not encompass defined stipulations at the control of the overall emissions. As a result, some major industrial organizations end up becoming the main environment polluters. The official figures show that at present there are more than 2,500 environmental examination agencies across all levels, involving approximately 53,000 employees.

Wired Greenie