China targets marine pollution in five-year plan

China has unveiled a plan to specify key tasks for protecting the marine environment in the 14th Five-Year Plan (FYP) period (2021-2025), according to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE).

China has released marine FYPs before, for fishing and the ocean economy, but this will be the first one dedicated to the environment.

The plan, jointly issued by the MEE and five other departments, outlines five areas for marine environment protection.

China will build up its capacity for coping with emergencies and ecological disasters in the ocean, according to the plan. Efforts will be made to coordinate climate response and marine environment protection during the period, fully leverage the role of the oceans in carbon sequestration and enhance their resilience to climate change.

‘The country will carry out targeted pollution treatment with a focus on nearshore bays and estuaries, while paying more attention to overall protection and systematic restoration.’

According to China Dialogue Ocean, in 2017 the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party set the goal of creating a ‘beautiful China’ by 2035 and more recently the government’s focus is increasingly on the country becoming a ‘maritime power’.

Parts of China’s coast have been damaged over the years by land reclamation, pollution and other factors, hence the marine protection FYP becoming more critical if the aim of a ‘maritime power’ is to be fulfilled.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), China saw an overall improvement in its marine environment, said the MEE, but more protection efforts should be made, given that problems such as pollution and ecological degradation remain prominent, and governance systems and capacities still need to be strengthened.

According to China Dialogue Ocean, in 2014 satellite imagery showed only around 33 per cent of the coastline was undamaged. This has reduced biodiverse marine environments.

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