• Research report on German experiences with environmental public interest litigation
  
• Composition of reference materials for lobbying
  
• Presentation of the report findings at a workshop. Participants are delegates from legislative, juridical, and environmental departments, lawyers and non-governmental environmental organizations.
  
  

• Overview of advanced technologies and measures for POPs WCS management and disposal/remediation in Germany including two case studies, a summary of the advantages, pitfalls, costs and incremental cost analysis of the technologies and measures.
  
• Review of the inventory of waste and WCS in China including disposal/remediation technologies and measures.
  
• Field trips to WCS in China Study Tour and elaboration of a technical evaluation report for POPs WCS disposal/remediation and management.
  
• Presentation of the German and Chinese experiences and the technical evaluation report at a two-day workshop.
  
• Submission of a technical evaluation report to SEPA.
  
  

• Research on the actual situation on Green Procurement and product standards/criteria regarding quality and environmental issues in China.
  
• Elaboration of Criteria for the five product groups automobile, paper, copier, computer and wood floor covering.
• Presentation of the Criteria at a workshop.

• Elaboration of a report on German and European experiences on the classification of international rivers and lakes, causes for potential conflicts and experiences with the management of water pollution risks.
  
• Summary of methodologies for risk assessment of water pollution in international rivers and lakes.
  
• Identification of 3 typical case studies for incidents and accidents and lessons learnt.
• Presentation of the main findings at a 2-3 day training workshop for Chinese experts.
• Compilation of a Chinese policy report on the management of international rivers and lakes with recommendations to SEPA.

• Collection of information of relevant technical guidelines and methodologies on EIA in Germany and Europe.
  
• Research by Chinese expert team: Information collection and conduction of two field trips to project sites.
  
• Presentation of German Experiences at an expert's workshop. In addition, the workshop aims at the decision on the framework for the Chinese guideline.
  
• Elaboration of the Chinese guideline including an expert workshop for discussion of the draft

• EIA practitioners from local EBPs, consultants from various planning and design bureaus, researchers
  
  

• Policy Dialogue on Economic Instruments
  
• Hands-on-Training of 3 Chinese experts in Germany
  

• Presentation of PREMA results in China for respective departments in SEPA and the Policy Research Center for Economic and Environment.
  

• Environmental Pollution Control of Key Rivers and Lakes
  
• Cross-border Environmental Policy
  
• Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment (SEIA) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
  
• Relation between Environmental and Health Policy
  
• Enterprises as driving force for environmental protection - German experiences
  

• Management of Transboundary Rivers and Lakes
  
• Chemical Management
  
• Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
  
  
  

Sino-German Symposium on Chemical Management, July 11-12 2006 in Beijing

On July 11-12, the Sino-German Symposium on Chemical Management was successfully held in Beijing. The symposium was organized as a joint initiative of the State Environmental Protection Administration of China (SEPA) and the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). Implementing agency was the GTZ. The symposium was opened by Mr. Zhu Guangyao, Vice Minister of SEPA, and Ms. Astrid Klug, Parliamentary State Secretary of BMU. About 150 representatives from relevant ministries and governmental institutions, companies and industry associations as well as scientific and non-governmental organizations came together to exchange their views and experiences on chemical management, chemicals legislation as well as chemical safety and emergency preparedness in China, some other relevant Asian countries, Germany and the EU.

Background information:
The production and processing of chemicals and the worldwide trade with chemical products are crucial factors in economic development. However, most Asian countries are not members of the OECD and have no central information system on the chemicals legislation of the largest market for their products, the European Union (EU). The symposium was convened in order to serve as a platform for dialogue and information exchange.

The recent major incidents in three Chinese chemical plants, two of which contaminated the Songhua river with benzene and nitrobenzene in November 2005, have put the safety of chemical installations at the top of SEPA's agenda. Therefore, chemical safety and emergency preparedness was included as an important topic for the discussion at the symposium.

January 11-13, Qingdao, Shandong
Sino-German Environmental Forum
A forum was jointly held by China and Germany at east China's port city of Qingdao from January 11 to 13, which was focusing on environmental and economic cooperation between the two countries, especially in the sector of renewable energy, recycling-based economy and green procurement.

Attending the forum were representatives from economic and environmental protection circles of the two countries, including SEPA Vice Minister Zhu Guangyao and Matthias Machnig, Germany's State Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. The forum was organized by German Development Cooperation (GTZ).

"Germany is well-known for its advanced technology and rich management experience in the fields of renewable energy and circular economy," Zhu said at the opening of the forum, "and cooperation between the two countries look to have a rosy future." Mr. Machnig added that the new German government is keen to further strengthen the Sino-German dialogue on environmental policy. During the forum, a Qingdao Initiative was agreed by both sides.
More about the forum

Evaluation of PREMA Pilot Training

The SEPA-GTZ Program supports an evaluation of the pilot trainings conducted in the field of environmental management since the program started.

PREMA training in Guiyang, Tianjin and Zhejiang Province has proven to be effective and successful. To initiate a broader dissemination the program set off a compilation of a comprehensive paper on the PREMA results in China. Independent Chinese experts will evaluate the results achieved by field visits.

During a workshop scheduled for December 2005 experts and additional stakeholder groups will discuss the best way to further utilize PREMA tools for strategies like Circular Economy and Cleaner Production.

October, Beijing and Nanjing
GTZ supports the development of EIA Guidelines in the field of solid waste and soil

SEPA is revising its guidelines on Environmental Impact Assessment. The GTZ program supports the elaboration of the guidelines for soil and solid wastes. German experts provided insight information about the legal situation and practical experiences in Germany and the EU. Based on this, a Chinese expert team drafted the two guidelines.

On October 13th and 14th 2005, workshops will be held in Beijing and Nanjing, respectively, to discuss the drafts with the German and Chinese experts. The final version of the guidelines will be elaborated until December 2005.

September 4-5, Germany
Travel of SEPA Vice Minister Mr. Pan Yu to the BRICS+G Conference in Germany

Beginning of September 2005, SEPA vice minister Pan Yue and five deputy director generals from SEPA took part in the BRICS+G Conference in Berlin (for more information on the conference please see http://www.bricsg.net/). During his visit to Germany Mr. Pan Yue also visited Mrs. Simone Probst, State secretary of the Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety to deepen the Sino-German relations in the field of Environmental protection and exchange ideas on related projects with focus on the “Sino-German Environment Forum” to be held in Qingdao in January 2006.

Since August
New policy advisory sequence ongoing since August 2005
GTZ supports SEPA in the elaboration of a rule on Environmental Management of Electrical and Electronic Waste (EEW)

In China, EEW is causing serious environmental problems. In order to control the EE waste pollution, the National Development and Reform Committee has submitted a draft on Recycling and Treatment of Used Household Appliance to the state Council. The regulation focuses on TV sets, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and computers.

Now, SEPA is responsible for the development of a rule for the Environmental Management of EEW. The GTZ Program supports the Chinese expert group involved. As first activity the project team investigated the actual situation in 3 pilot provinces and the latest progress of related laws and regulations. The results will be summarized in a report and set the base for the elaboration of the new regulation. In addition, a study on German experiences on the environmental management of EE waste was initiated to enable SEPA to draw conclusions from existing experiences.

The activities will last until January 2006. In October, the study report by the German expert will be submitted to SEPA. The Chinese expert group will draft the rule and initiate an expert’s discussion on the draft. Within a Sino-German workshop – scheduled for December - the German expert and Chinese experts will exchange their experiences and complete the development of the new rule.

August
Transfer of German Experiences with Nature Conservation Park Management in Germany

In August, a survey about Nature Conservation Park Management in Germany was compiled. The report includes an overview about the legal framework for nature conservation including the roles of stakeholders involved, the status quo regarding funding, the different categories of nature conservation areas and their characteristics, as well as an introduction into the nature conservation planning concept and its tools applied. The study concludes with an overview about management issues and some insight details on three national parks (case studies for above mentioned topics).

For further information exchange and expert’s discussion a workshop is scheduled for October/November. Based on the survey and the workshop SEPA will draw conclusions for the formulation of a law on natural conservation park management for China.

July 18-20, Tianjin
Dissemination workshop on PREMA for local EPBs in Tianjin

Dissemination training for PREMA was held from July 18th to 20th in Tianjin. Objective of this training was familiarize potential dissemination organizations with the management tool PREMA and thus to promote the further dissemination in Tianjin.

During the 1.5 –day event more than 30 persons were trained. Besides the transfer of basic knowledge about PREMA intensive discussions were initiated on the integration of PREMA to existing EMS tools and strategies in Tianjin.

At present, the central government pays high attention to energy saving and cleaner production initiatives in enterprises to engage the reduction of production costs and improve the level of environmental protection. While PREMA is tackling the same objectives, these circumstances offer a good chance for its further dissemination.

July, Beijing
Policy paper on Guiyang Master Plan completed

The draft of the policy paper on Guiyang Master Plan has been completed in July. It summarizes the experiences gained in Guiyang with the application of material flow management as tool for investigation and optimizing of regional systems of material and energy resources utilization and the elaboration of business plans for eight "turning waste to energy"-projects. Drawing lessons learnt the paper suggests that a new orientation in the waste treatment strategy and application of material flow management as practical tool for implementation of circular economy philosophy are necessary and concludes with policy recommendations for the further utilization of the experiences. During the last year, numerous activities had been undertaken until the final version of a plan on Circular Economy projects in Guiyang was finalized and agreed on by all partners and experts involved. The final master plan consists of the detailed description and cost-benefit calculation of eight light tower projects.

June 24, Beijing
GTZ supports SEPA's policy dialogue meeting

A policy dialogue meeting on environmental international cooperation was held by SEPA's Department of International Cooperation on June 24. SEPA officials and over 60 delegates from bilateral and multilateral foreign donors attended the meeting, which was supported by SEPA's Policy Research Center for Environment and Economy. The meeting was opened by SEPA Vice Minister Pan Yue. He said, the policy dialogue initiated with this meeting could promote China's international cooperation on environmental protection and help China's capacity building on environmental policy, management and technology and support China's environmental effort with advanced environmental management ideas. During the meeting, officials from SEPA's Department of Policies, Laws and Regulations introduced challenges and cooperation demand on China's environmental policies while the Department of Planning and Finance briefed the framework and outlines of the 11th five-year national environmental plan. Other SEPA departments also introduced the environmental issues administered by them, such as pollution control, ecological and natural conservation and environmental international cooperation by DG/DDG of Department of International Cooperation. Speeches of the meeting have been translated into English and will be published with the support of the GTZ program by the end of August.

June, Guiyang
PREMA in Guiyang

In June, the PREMA program in Guiyang, Southwestern China's Guizhou Province entered a new phase, as the second PREMA training module, including ToT (training of trainers) and company visits, was carried out by the GTZ program under the support of Guiyang Productivity Promotion Centre.

Representatives from five companies participated in the second training. They elaborated additional improvement measures and actively took part in discussions and hands-on exercises throughout the whole training. The generation of additional measures is fostered by more in-depth one to three day company visits that were conducted by the German sector expert Michael Klein together with the allocated GY consultants directly after the second training.

Six GY consultants have participated in a two day ToT (Training of Trainers) and then co-facilitated the company workshop and contributed their expertise in the following company visits. In the company workshop, the local consultants have been supported by two senior trainers, Ren Jingzhe from PMO Beijing and Sun Rui from TAES Tianjin, and coached by international trainer Dr. Kerstin Bark.

The final evaluation of the workshop showed again the great satisfaction of the participants and the workshop can be taken as a solid base for the implementation of successful measures in the companies in order to save costs and to increase productivity by saving resources. As a side effect this will reduce the environmental impacts, too. The feasibility details of the measures elaborated (e.g. material streams involved, baseline situation, investment required, benefit and pay-back period calculation etc.) had been assessed during the company visits by the sector expert. During his visits to four companies and discussions with the companies' staff the sector expert elaborated more than 30 improvement measures. Many of them were again focusing on energy saving aspects (heat recovery, avoidance of heat losses, optimization of cooling processes etc.), process optimization potentials and ways to improve the efficiency of material usage. At the 2nd network meeting, held on July 14th, the five companies again participated and reported that they started with the implementation of the elaborated measures.

In general, the PREMA training has proven to be effective and successful. However, to initiate a broader dissemination the GTZ-program set off the compilation of a comprehensive paper on the PREMA results in China. In addition, intensive information gathering about results achieved by a group of Chinese experts is planned for August/September 2005. One main task lying ahead is to define the right stakeholders and partners to be involved in the dissemination. Besides, it is crucial to identify the most effective linkage of PREMA to existing strategies such as Circular Economy, Cleaner Production, pollution permit and pollution levy systems. These issues will also be addressed and discussed by the Chinese experts during their mission.

May 17, Tianjin
Closing Event for PREMA in Tianjin

The closing event for the companies' application of Profitable Environmental Management (PREMA), an environmental training program for SMEs, was held in Tianjing on May 17. The pilot training program, lasting from 2003 to 2005, was co-organized by Sino-German environmental program SEPA-GTZ, Tianjin Environmental Protection Bureau and the Tianjin Academy of Environmental Sciences. The aim of the training is to enable SMEs to conduct production in an efficient way in order to reduce production costs and increase productivity while reducing material and resource consumption, pollution and waste. The additional "third win" for companies is achieved due to organizational improvements that go hand in hand with the PREMA implementation.

The day's closing event was held to present the results achieved by the PREMA pilot training program in Tianjin to relevant stakeholders and to award 4 companies for their successful implementation of PREMA.

Local media have paid great interest to the event with more than a dozen reporters from TV stations, radio stations and newspaper attended the meeting. Their coverage of the event sang high praise of the "third win" effect of PREMA.

After its successful launch in Tianjin, PREMA training program is eying to be launched in other cities of China.

April 19, Beijing
Workshop on hospital waste treatment

As part of SEPA-GTZ Program's effort to provide advisory services on environmental policy to Chinese environmental organizations, a workshop on non-incineration technologies and financing policy for the hospital waste treatment was held in Beijing on April 19. During the workshop, German experts, together with their Chinese counterparts introduced the current situation of HW treatment technologies both at China and abroad, while officials from SEPA's Department of Planning and Finance introduced the procedure of applying for the national debt for the construction of HW treatment facilities. The day's event was also a kick-off meeting of the Sino-German cooperative project on establishment of technical & management guidance for centralized treatment of hospital waste by using autoclave (or other non-incineration technologies). After the workshop, there was a ceremony of agreement signing for a Chinese company to order autoclaving devices from German's WEBECO.

March 4-8 2005, Beijing
GTZ supports SEPA to train environmental NGOs

A training course on public participation in environmental protection for NGOs was held in Beijing from March 4 to March 8. The trainees, leaders of environmental NGOs from about 30 universities and colleges, were trained by Dr. Oepen from Germany, an expert on environmental communication and moderation of group events. The course was part of SEPA-GTZ program's plan in 2005 to develop institutional capacity of staffs in China's environmental agencies and NGOs.

March 2005, Guiyang
SEPA-GTZ's PREMA activities continue in Guiyang

During March, a second group of companies in Guiyang entered the PREMA (Profitable Environmental Management) training program held by the Sino-German SEPA-GTZ program. Company representatives participated actively during a 4-day training workshop in which the newly learned concept w as already applied to the companies' own production processes.

As additional activity, pilot companies of the first PREMA training program in Gu iyang and the training program in Tianjin had been visited to follow-up on the success of implemented improvement measures regarding the benefits achieved.

Circular Economy Projects Macth Making Workshop

Guiyang is a pilot city for circular economy (CE ) experiment in China. With request of Guiyang Government, SEPA-GTZ Program began to develop a master plan for waste management system based on CE concpet for Guiyang.

With nearly one year of hard work, the first daft of the master plan mentioned has already been completed, now undergoing independent evaluation by German experts. Final draft of the master plan will be released in mid March.

As the ends of the master plan for waste management system in Guiyang, a project inventory based on the master plan will turn up.The Match Making Workshop is to bring together the international financial organisations and international and domestic enterprises to identify business opportunity in the project inventory.

This workshop presents opportunity for the first time for international financial organisations and international and domestic enterprises to take part in development course of CE in strict sense in China.