Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
involve not only technical and economic feasibility but also basic human values such as
equity, justice, and rights.
In an interview about how to assign relative weights to different criteria in complex
decision-making processes, Dr. Wu, an environmental policy analyst from the MEP, related
a comical story about working with rural communities on environmental restoration pro-
jects.Hehadgraduatedfromcollegeinthelate1980swithadegreeinecologyandastarry-
eyed ambition to help solve the nation's environmental problems. Working in an advisory
capacity with county and township officials in a relatively poor province in central China,
he lectured them on the “value” (
jiazhi
) of ecosystem functions, explaining that planting
trees on sloped land, for example, could prevent erosion and enhance the soil quality of
agricultural land downslope. The local officials, likely annoyed by this precocious college
graduate from the city, always nodded in assent but went right on doing whatever they had
always done. The budding MEP policy analyst eventually discovered that terminology was
getting in the way of effective communication. When he talked about the value of ecosys-
tem functions, government officials tended to turn this vague term into two concrete ques-
tions: Exactly how much money can we get for these ecosystem functions? And how do
we convert them to cash?
1
My interview with Dr. Wu soon turned into a lengthy discussion of how different con-
stituencies and even scientists from different backgrounds tend to approach problems from
their own narrow perspectives. This phenomenon has been termed “epistemological plur-
alism” (Miller et al. 2008): the notion that people with different backgrounds and skill sets
approach a problem differently because they see the world through different lenses by vir-
tue of their specialized training. If decision making about dams is to become more effect-
ive, more just, and more sustainable, it must first become more transparent and more col-
laborative. Experts must find a way to understand and value one another's perspectives, an
endeavor that is more difficult than it sounds.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT IN CHINA
One statutory tool with great promise for improving environmental governance and
bridgingthedividebetweenscientific disciplines isEIA.Majorinfrastructure-development
projects in China have been subject to environmental review since the establishment of the
country's environmental bureaucracy in the late 1970s, but the institutional framework for
implementing EIA has been slow to take hold. The role model for China's EIA process was
the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, which requires any major
actions that may significantly affect environmental quality to undergo either a full environ-
mental impact statement oran abbreviated waiver process called a “Finding ofNoSignific-
ant Impact.” In either case, proper steps must be taken to identify and mitigate the impacts
