January 10, 2022 is the first day after 39 illegal buildings in Sea Flower (Ocean Flower ) Islands, Hainan, were ordered to be removed automatically, and the day of the "Global Coastal Forum" was held in China. Wang Hong, Vice Minister of the Natural Resources and Director of the State Oceanic Administration, attended the opening ceremony of the Forum and the ministerial forum and delivered a keynote speech, introducing to the international community the Chinese government's ideas, policies and practical experience in promoting ecological civilization construction and realizing high-quality development. Major measures were proposed to build a new pattern of land and sea space protection and development, improve the level of land and sea space governance, promote land and sea space ecological protection and restoration, and strengthen international cooperation in coastal ecological protection.
We are opposed to the demolition of 39 buildings on Evergrand Sea Flower (Ocean Flower ) Islands by Danzhou in Hainan province within "10 days", because it will cause secondary damage to the ecological environment. We advocate the establishment of an environmental trust to maximize the public interest. In this article, as the "Global Coastal Forum" has just concluded, we are more concerned about another key question: how did the environmental impact assessment of this project pass the review? Has the EIA unit and preparers been held accountable for fraud? To this end, I would like to share part of the interview that Zhou Jinfeng, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation(CBCGDF), recently gave to Shangyou News.
Qestion 1 from the correspondent:
Your organization's message also pointed out the problem of public participation in the EIA. So what role should ordinary people or representatives of social organizations play in the normal EIA reporting process?
Answer from Dr. Zhou Jinfeng:
People's participation and human-based solutions (HBS as I advocate)in environmental governance are the guarantee for the construction of an ecological civilization in which "man and nature live in harmony".
A large number of EIAs are now engaging in hide-and-seek. There are very serious problems with their EIA and public participation.
First of all, there is a lack of public participation. They do not invite, do not notify, and operate under the table.
Second, in terms of form, we have come across such a situation, they sent a very simple message in a very secret place on the official website, and then removed it after sending it.
Third, in terms of time, there is no lead time and insufficient notice. In fact, if you want to truly achieve the core idea of the EIA, it is easy to notify CBCGDF, and it is not difficult. We are a national level society for biodiversity (including oceans), and we have a lot of experts in this area, but they are deliberately avoiding us - keep hiding. A large number of EIAs are now engaging in hide-and-seek. For example, those who hold different opinions will be controlled, or you will not be allowed to participate, or the so-called quota will be imposed.
It can be seen that the environmental impact assessment of Sea Flower (Ocean Flower ) Islands is suspected of fraud. It can be seen that they blatantly violated the regulations of the state, and there are three major problems in the procedure.
First, "break up the whole into parts". According to regulations, more than 27 hectares must be reported, so they approved dozens of licenses to use the sea at once, and reduced each of them to less than 27 hectares to avoid supervision. So, it's not that our system is flawed; it's that they deliberately bypass the state's control and bypass this reasonable rules and regulations.
The second most serious problem is building without approval. This is the second problem about procedures.
The third major procedural problem is the lack of public participation. In fact, Sea Flower (Ocean Flower ) Islands has always had different opinions from the beginning of planning, investment promotion, demonstration, environmental impact assessment, and construction. But these different opinions have been destroyed by them (actually by money and by a series of mechanisms of industrial civilization), destroying the basic idea of ecological civilization construction.
Therefore, the fundamental solution is to ensure public participation in governance, openness, fairness and transparency. It is necessary to clear the expression channel for different ideas; if the decision-making department has an open and fair conclusion, it should consciously invite social organizations and experts with different opinions.
(This article is based on the recording, for reference only. And this is not a word-for-word translation.)
Original Chinese Article:https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/3KAXTsMNXlQ2pBj7ob-yvw?st
Translator/Lucy
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