On May 24, 2021, the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) published the Reform Plan for the System of Law-based Environmental Information Disclosure [1], committing to thoroughly deepening the reform of the system of law-based environmental information disclosure and advancing mandatory environmental information disclosure by enterprises.
Ensuring authentic, accurate and integrated environmental information disclosure can help to lay a solid foundation for the country’s endeavors to modernize the environmental governance system. At present, China has put in place an information disclosure system which covers basically all systems, links and factors in ecological and environmental and management. However, due to insufficient regulation, low information quality, difficulties to access information, etc., the system has not effectively played a key role in bolstering ecological and environmental governance.
In view of the current developments and problems, the Reform Plan was formulated to ensure that enterprises perform their statutory environmental governance obligations, to deliver more effective regulation and to increase public participation.
The Reform Plan specifies that key emission entities, enterprises which carry out mandatory cleaner production audit, listed companies or bond-issuing companies which are held criminally accountable or face major administrative punishments because of ecological and environmental violations, etc. shall be mandatorily required to disclose environmental information.
According to the Reform Plan, efforts will be made to specify the contents and scope of environmental information disclosure and establish a dynamic adjustment mechanism. Where any information involves state secrets or core key technologies in important sectors, enterprises may not disclose such information.
The Reform Plan also notes that important environmental information should be disclosed in a timely manner, and that the forms of mandatory environmental information disclosure shall be improved. Moreover, enterprises shall also work to enhance their internal environmental information management.
The Reform Plan also provides key tasks concerning the coordinated management mechanism and supervisory efforts for mandatory environmental information disclosure.
