finalscientificreportofapeproject.doc

Final Scientific Report of APE Project Contract Number CN/ASIA PRO ECO/13 109281) July 2007 Building Capacities for Corporate Environmental Management: A Study of Experiences in the Yunnan and Jiangsu Provinces of the People’s Republic of China Introduction Throughout the world, increasing attention is being focused on the promise of cleaner production technologies for reducing the impact of a firms production activities on the environment. Almost all major companies now take a strategic view of environmental issues. In China, too, interest has grown in the possibilities of reconciling wealth creation with environmental quality (the goal of sustainable development). China is a rapidly industrialising country, presently experiencing a period of substantial economic growth. It is important to ensure that this economic growth does not take place at expense of the quality of the environment and the integrity of the natural resources on which its sustainable development depends. This means that in China, as in other developing countries, concern for the environment must become an integral part of the way in which these goods and services are produced. While motivated by concern for the impact of economic development on the resource base and environmental quality of the country, both Chinese policy makers and economic actors also confront increasing pressure to meet the demands placed on, at least parts of the economy as the country becomes more integrated into the system of world trade. As the Chinese economy expands, it is becoming more enmeshed in developments related to the growing amount of environmental policy making at the international level, globalization of world economy and enhanced competitive pressures. The challenge of competing effectively in the industrialized world is intensifying pressures both to reduce costs and to enhance the environmental quality of its products. Therefore, the competitive challenge of the wider industrialized world, in th