The Ministry of Environmental Protection issued a notice that environmental protection information should be disclosed in a timely manner; that information on important projects related to the people's interests should be disclosed to more people in larger areas; and the local environmental authority should carefully heed the public's opinions, says an article in China Business News. Excerpts:

This notice is believed to be in response to some recent environmental incidents that reflected a lack of information transparency and communications.

The Regulation of Environmental Information Disclosure (Trial) has been in place for four and a half years. It is evident this regulation does not work well in practice.

Some environmental departments are reluctant to disclose information because they do not realize that the public's rights to know is protected by law, and the truth, if disclosed, will invite trouble for local governments and big enterprises and thus affect local economic growth and social stability.

The new notice of the central environmental authority grabs the bull by the horns. The notice sets clear requirements for local environmental departments, and the problems can be solved if these requirements are satisfied.

The environmental protection departments have the expertise, technology and equipment. If they can fulfill their responsibilities by supervising the enterprises as a watchdog, providing professional references to the governments and keeping the public informed, the governments and the people will have an effective middleman to prevent direct conflicts. More important, the local environment can be better protected.

The previous environmental incidents should warn local governments of the necessity of respecting people's rights to know and the opinions of the environmental departments. Sustainable development cannot be realized without constructive participation and communication of the people and the functional departments.