Recent Environmental Law and Public Participation News
In the last two weeks, numerous government bodies – from city governments to national ministries – have published their 2008 Open Government Information Work Reports, detailing their information disclosure programming and figures for 2008. While some provinces have disclosed millions of documents, the situation can vary depending on the locale. Residents of Foshan, a city next to Guangzhou, were shocked to learn that only four information disclosure applications had been filed in all of 2008, a figure easily dwarfed by the quarter-million applications filed in Guangzhou. View eight articles after the break.
Chengdu received 897 information applications in 2008 (Google translation)
The city of Chengdu has released the 2008 report on its information disclosure performance. In total, the city received 897 applications in 2008, 55,000 questions submitted through an online web form, and disclosed 1.9 million articles. (Source: Sichuan News Net)
Foshan residents stunned to learn that only four information disclosure applications were filed for 2008 (Google translation)
The release of information disclosure statistics for 2008 by the local government of Foshan, a city in Guangdong Province, stunned citizens when they revealed that only four information disclosure applications had been filed in all of 2008. The number pales to the figure for the nearby city of Guangzhou, which received 256,427 applications in 2008, and had local citizens and media wondering whether the low figure was the result of a reluctance to apply or simply a lack of civic consciousness. (Source: South China City News)
Sichuan Province: nearly 3 million government documents disclosed in 2008 (Google translation)
The Sichuan Provincial government released their 2008 information disclosure report, revealing that the government disclosed nearly 3 million documents in the last year. Additional figures and a breakdown of documents disclosed by type can be found in the article. (Source: Chengdu Daily)
Additional Information Disclosure Reports:
Ministry of Education launches information disclosure implementation measures (Google translation)
In accordance with article 37 of the national government open information measures, the Ministry of Education has released its own set of implementation measures to increase transparency in management and decision-making. The new rules apply to all public colleges and universities, stating that internal management information and practices that would be considered important information to members of the public should be disclosed. In the past, the Chinese public has criticized the school system for its lack of transparency in many areas. (Source: Caijing Magazine)
Weihai releases marine environmental emergency pollution plan (Google translation)
The city of Weihai has released the full text of their marine pollution emergency plan, intended to address sudden instances of water pollution in a timely matter. The plan sets up an emergency command system and spells out monitoring and treatment protocols for any environmental incidents. (Source: Weihai Municipal Government)
World Bank signs cooperation agreement with Environment Ministry for Green Credit policy (Google translation)
The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation recently signed a long-term memorandum of cooperation for implementing the Green Credit policy, which limits the loans offered to polluting enterprises in violation of environmental standards. (Source: Economic Daily News)
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