This document discusses environmental governance in China and the shift towards digitization. It summarizes China's systematic development of environmental policies from 2002 to the present, focusing on urban and industrial transformation. It outlines China's paradigm shifts towards transparency, public participation, and multi-stakeholder scrutiny. It also describes how China is digitizing environmental governance through proprietary databases, real-time company and compliance monitoring, and detection of policy movements. The document is from a presentation by Johnny Browaeys of Greenment, a leading environmental consulting firm in China.

1. Digitization of
Environmental Governance
in China
March 2020
Johnny Browaeys

2. Content
1
2
3
Looking Back
China Paradigm Shifts
Digitizing the future
4 What’s Your Next Move?

3. Part 01 Looking Back

4. 2002
2007
2012
2017
Systematic Development with focus on
Urban and Industrial Transformation
“Eco-Civilization”
“Industrial & Urban Transformation”
Three Critical
Battles
by 2020
Preventing
Financial Risks
Tackling
Pollution
Reducing
Poverty

5. Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4Pilot
Centrally Driven Campaigns Engaging Local Authorities
Jan Feb Jul Aug Nov Dec Mar May Aug Sep
2016 2017
85,488 cases
~120 million Euro
1,173 people
13,882 governmental officers

6. "source: National Ministry of Ecological Environment official website"
Types of Administrative penalties 2015 2016 2017
33,667 cases
2018
36,302 cases
Continued daily penalties
(number/billion yuan)
715 /
0.57
1,017/
0.81
*1,046/
1.08
*691/
0.985
Operational halts 4,191 9,976 *16,429 *19903
Production restrictions 3,106 5,673 *7,842 *6196
Administrative detentions 2,079 4,041 ~8,600 *7145
Environmental pollution crimes 1,685 2,023 ~2,700 *2367
Administrative penalty decision ~97,000 ~124,160 ~233,000 ~166,210
Total administrative fines (billion RMB) 4.25 6.63 11.58 13.6
NOTE: * means data from January to November only
New Enforcement Tools

7. Part 02 China Paradigm Shifts

8. Information
Disclosure
Big Data &
Digitalisation
Public
Participation
NGOs
Transparency and Public Participation
Multiple-Stakeholder Scrutiny

9. Nearby Factories
Environmental Infrastructure
Sensitive Areas
Nearby Communities
Environmental Planning
Industrial Transformation
Industrial Capacity Planning
Urban Planning
• License & Operation
Compliance
Surrounding Policies
External
GAPS in Most Current Risk Management Systems

10. Local
Government
Initiatives
Impacts
• Stop Production
• Blacklist Company
• Reduce Emissions
• Litigation
• Challenge Reputation
• Upgrade installation
Weather
Conditions
Public
Complaints
NGO’s
Upgrading old
Industries
Public Events
Multiple initiatives
continuously impact
Companies
Real Time Policy Dynamics
Closing
Industrial Parks
Relocation
Chemical
Industries
Cleaning Black
River Initiative
Incidents eg.
JIANGSU
The Six
Uprisings
Shandong
Industrial
Planning
COVID-19
measures

11. The Key Message:
These initiatives are triggered by various
local factors, pressuring different
government departments to act on a
variety of goals, sometimes confusing and
conflicting, all very dynamic and in fact
adapting and implementing policies real-
time

12. START
AUDIT
REPORT
CORRECTIVE
ACTION
Dynamic factors
not included
External factors
not included
Challenge 1
Challenge 2
Some factors
cannot
be corrected
Challenge 3
Conventional Risk Management Processes Run Behind the
Facts and Fail to Protect the Business
Typical Annual
Audit Cycle
Business Resilience?

13. Case Study: Jiangsu Explosion March 21 Triggers Wave of
Enforcements / Rectifications
2 hours Pictures and videos on the scenes started to spread on social media
It started with a fire incident around 14:00, which then led to a lethal
explosion at 14:50. The fire was put out by 19:00 the next day.
24 hours
Companies are scrambling for data to try and understand potential impacts
on their operations
1 day
National Environmental and Safety Authorities have done the first rounds of
inspection and started monitoring post-incident impacts.
3 days
Provincial government announces ”vigorous environmental and safety
inspections”
6 days
National campaign launched to conduct risk screening and assessment of
chemical industrial parks and companies– first articulated in JiangSu
Provinces, Sichuan, Shandong… . start announcing their local inspection plans.
12 days More detailed measures start tricking down at the lower levels.

14. “understand the importance of rectifying and upgrading the chemical industry from the perspective of
implementing new development concepts”
“taking into account the safety and environmental protection, … rectification and industrial
transformation, … , getting rid of the "low-end lock" of high-quality and unsuitable industries”
“… the purpose of rectification is to upgrade”
“… meet the standards and positively improve their integrity … should take the initiative to form a
consensus on rectification and improve the development of enterprises”
“Enthusiasm”
Standing Committee of Jiangsu Provincial Party:
Expresses the first official view illustrating how the crisis is used to drive an upgrade
-> speeding up China’s Industrial Transformation

15. Below are a few examples addressing specifics companies with specific issues:
• Blacklisting of chemical companies: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/dGkqjkk8MKu3-chLtKF__w
• Cancellation of hazardous chemical production safety:
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/ObNbn4saukYFJl6BxYD4cA
…
Below are a few examples of announced plans addressing specific issues in specific regions:
• Inspections announced in 23 provinces: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/_F17dumMWGFxUKi8lK2pTw
• The next round of Environmental Inspections in 10 provinces:
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/XQrymmITzqx3BadkJxLkzQ
…
On the Ground Implementation Follows

16. Part 03 Digitizing the future
TO BE CONTINUED

17. • The largest independent environmental database in
China with 10 years, over 1.4 billion environmental
data, nation-wide coverage, central government, 31
provinces, 338 citied.
• Customized technical solution to monitor and detect
policy movement and latest news, among vast
information of traditional and new medias, related to
central supervision planning, special government
action planning, regional planning for production
restriction and suspension due to environmental
issues etc.
Proprietary Database and Technology
• Over 3 million companies with real-time and
historical on-line monitoring data of over 12,000
major industrial facilities and over 1 million records of
environmental complaints, governmental notices,
violation/penalty records to track down the
environmental performance of a given company.
• Over 3,000 information platforms (official, public and
social media) for targeted and precise identification of
environmental information related to
supervision/enforcement actions/plans and latest
government movement in environmental campaigns
Company Records & Public Monitoring
• GREENMENT originated in 2012 when CH2M Hill
decided to localize their environmental Business Unit.
Today we are the largest, premier EHS consulting
and engineering services provider in China with
around 100 consultants and serving 80% of Fortune
100 companies.
• GREENMENT has its headquarter in Shanghai China
and operates offices in Beijing, Guangzhou, Silicon
Valley USA and Antwerp Belgium.
Largest Trusted Environmental Provider in China
• GREENMENT as a Chinese company often supports
national and local environmental authorities and
Institutes for the research and development of
environmental policies and standards and has
developed excellent long-standing relationships with
China’s key government stakeholders.
• GREENMENT has ten experts that are registered in the
government database who are routinely engaged by the
authorities for expert panel review on projects by other
consultants.
Deep Insights and Strong Local Relations
Who is GREENMENT?
Johnny Browaeys WeChat & Mobile: 86 1376 1894 720 - johnny.browaeys@greenment.net - http://www.linkedin.com/in/johnnybrowaeys

18. Thank You
Contact:
• johnny.browaeys@greenment.net
• http://www.linkedin.com/in/johnnybrowaeys
• WECHAT: 13761894720