China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and China Petroleum and Chemicals Corp (Sinopec) have rejected a government program forcing Chinese enterprises to purchase so-called environmental pollution insurance, state media reports.
According to Xinhua, the two companies are claiming that "they can
handle issues of environmental compensation themselves." The State
Environmental Protection Administration and the China Insurance
Regulatory Commission are currently developing a new insurance scheme
that may avoid compelling companies to meet environmental standards.
After two decades of rapid economic growth, China faces critical
levels of air and ground pollution, both in urban and rural areas. The
government has identified the following industries as areas of
continued pollution concern: petrochemical, steel, cement, and paper
production.
Enforcing pollution clean-up measures nationwide is, however, hampered
at local municipal and county levels, where officials remain motivated
by economic growth targets, rather than environmental concerns. "China
still faces grave pollution control tasks this year, and the most
prominent problem lies in some local cadres, who are still blind to
the importance of the scientific development model," said SEPA
official Zhao Hualin.
Last update : Saturday, 25 August 2007
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China Petroleum and Sinopec Reject Pollu
By: Clement Wang (Guest) on 07-10-2007 15:28