Resource information
China's environmental
degradation has developed over centuries, but record recent
rates of economic growth have now widened environmental
impacts and accelerated many adverse trends. China's
urbanization and industrialization have produced rising
material standards of living but have ever more costly
environmental consequences. The period 1992-2001 coincided
with a renewed Bank commitment to the environment,
culminating in a new 2001 Bank environmental strategy. For
the evaluation period there were four policies against which
environmental performance can be judged: mainstreaming the
environment; enforcing environmental safeguards;
implementing a global agenda; and environmental stewardship.
The environment and social sector development sector
management unit (SMU) has a small professional staff and
manages the few Bank-funded specialized environment
projects. The Bank provided intellectual leadership and when
economic sector work (ESW) was critical, the stakes were so
high that the overall cost-effectiveness of ESW was assured.
Rightly the Bank participated enthusiastically and shared
knowledge with a pluralistic group of donors allied to
Chinese research institutes and non-government organizations (NGOs).
