Study On Policies Dealing With Environmental Problems In The Pearl River Delta City Group

During the 30 years of Reform and Opening up, the Pearl River Delta city group, with a super-normal pace of industrialization and urbanization, has become a world-class manufacturing base and one of China's economic engine. However, accompanied with the development, the Pearl River Delta region also paid a heavy price for resources and environment, resulting in the entire region of water pollution, air pollution and solid waste pollution and other pollution. What's even more worrying is that, at present, the Pearl River Delta city group has clearly demonstrated the negative effect which is caused by the interaction between inter-city environmental development. That is to say, environmental pollution can be even worse in a city group—one city's environmental problems handled improperly, the entire Pearl River Delta city group should be subjected to its distress and impact. In particular, in recent years, water pollution, acid rain, e-waste pollution and destruction of coastal ecological environment, have given rise to the attention of government, society and the media. Compared to general urban environmental problems, environmental issues in the Pearl River Delta city group, such as lack of water, acid rain, and e-waste pollution, have different characteristics, which are closely related with spatial structure of cities, industrial structure, industrialization, urbanization and the development model of the Pearl River Delta city group.The Paper first outlines features of environmental problems in city groups compared with environmental problems, which make the management of environmental issues in city groups take targeted and specific policy instruments; at the same time, in analyzing the root causes of environmental problems arising from the basis of economics, paper points out the theoretical grounds of using environmental economic policy instruments.This Paper then analyzes main performances and features of environmental problems in the Pearl River Delta city group. By researching the development of the four typical environmental problems (lack of water, acid rain, e-waste pollution and coastal environmental issues) in-depth, this paper tries to explain leading causes of these environmental issues. The Paper comes to the conclusion that the causes of environmental problems in the Pearl River Delta city group in recent years, are closely related with the rapid economic development, the special spatial structure, industrial structure and industrialization and urbanization development model in the Pearl River Delta city group.The Paper studies the main policy instruments of dealing with the environmental problems in the Pearl River Delta city group in recent years, in conjunction with important programs, measures and actions taken by our nation and Guangdong province. This paper analyses the significance and future trends of using environmental economic instruments to deal with environmental problems in the Pearl River Delta city group.This Paper finally describes the present situation of using environmental economic instrument at home and abroad as well as weaknesses in using this instrument. By comparing with other environmental policy instruments, this paper points out that using economic instruments actively could solve environmental problems in the Pearl River Delta city group effectively at present. The Paper also points out that in the region of Pearl River Delta city group, with such a high industrialization and urbanization level, through the reform of emissions trading system and the sewage charging system, improve the system of environmental subsidies as the main contents of environmental economic instruments to stimulate companies to rethink production costs and improve technology so as to improve and solve the thorny environmental problems which the Pearl River Delta city group currently facing with, the time is relatively mature. Paper also points out that, other environmental policy instruments should be chosen flexibly and used on the basis of specific features of environmental problems.