中国污染的负担

This Report is the result of a collaborative research effort by a joint Chinese and international expert team being contracted by the World Bank.

This is a draft edition of the Cost of Pollution in China: Economic Estimates of Physical Damages report, which will be presented at the international conference on Sustainable Development in Beijing, China on March 2, 2007. The purpose of this conference edition is to present the findings of the studies undertaken in China over the past about 3 years as well as to obtain relevant comments and feedback from the conference participants that could be included in the final edition of the report.

This report traces its origin to 1997, when the World Bank published the China 2020 – Clear Water Blue Skies report. This work underscored the economic implications of environmental degradation by estimating that the cost of air and water pollution in China is between 3.5 and 8 percent of GDP. Following these findings, the Chinese government requested the World Bank to collaborate with a number of Chinese and international research institutes to develop an environmental cost model (ECM) using methodologies specific to the China context.

This work includes an in-depth review of international ECM studies, and development and application of new methodologies (and software) for annual estimations of water and air pollution in China at both central and local levels. The aim of this work is to increase awareness of the economic impacts of air and water pollution in China, to provide relevant policy information to decision makers and to enable the Chinese government to make optimal resource allocations for environmental protection.

Prior to the publication of this report, comprehensive comments have been received by both the Chinese Government, particularly the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) and independent Chinese and NonChinese reviewers. Some of the subjects that have been carefully developed during the course of implementation, including certain physical impact estimations as well as economic cost calculations at local levels have been left out of this conference edition due to still some uncertainties about calculation methods and its application. How to possibly make use of these materials will be continuously worked on during and after the conference. Moreover, the comprehensive reference material that has been developed by joint Chinese and International expert team (including progress reports and various background reports), is going to be attached in a CD-ROM in the final edition.

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