Poll: High marks for govt response

A recent environmental protection survey found mixed results, with more than half of those surveyed saying that urban environmental pollution is severe, even as they expressed increased satisfaction with the government's performance in dealing with such issues.

The survey, released on Monday by the Center for Public Opinion Research at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, sought to learn about attitudes and behaviors toward environmental protection and understand how residents evaluate the government's performance in this area.

It polled 3,500 residents from 35 major cities through a computerized telephone interview.

According to the survey, nearly 54 percent said urban environmental pollution is severe, an increase of 2.3 percentage points from a similar survey conducted in 2013. Nearly 64 percent said current ecological destruction is severe or very severe.

Public satisfaction with the government's performance in environmental protection reached 60 percent, however, an increase of more than 10 percentage points from 2013.

Meanwhile, respondents were dissatisfied with the transparency of government information and local government solutions to air and environmental pollution.

"In general, the government's efforts to deal with environmental problems have constantly stepped up," said Zhong Yang, director of the center. "But we also could see that there is still a long way to go."

The survey found that residents have strong opposition to facilities or projects with possible adverse environmental effects if they were built near their homes, with more than 65 percent saying they would participate in protests with their neighbors.

Fifty-four percent said they would continue to protest if the problem could not be solved, until the polluting facilities were shut down or moved.

Such opposition has been dubbed the NIMBY response, for Not In My Back Yard.

"The government should work out a long-term cooperative mechanism that invites multiple parties to participate and discuss site selection," Zhong said.

A sizable majority expressed a willingness to be more involved in environmental protection. About 82 percent said they would be willing to sort garbage, and about 75 percent said they would use recycled shopping bags.

More than half of respondents said they would donate to an environmental protection organization or work as a volunteer.

Moreover, nearly two-thirds supported a ban on fireworks during the Spring Festival holiday.

A new Environmental Protection Law, which took effect on Jan 1 and has been praised for its toughness, for the first time sought a more equitable approach between development and environmental protection.

There are still many problems in the implementation of the new law, said Lu Zhongmei, vice-president of the Chinese Society of Environment and Resources Law.

"The concept of ecological civilization needs to be further popularized," Lu said.

wanghongyi@chinadaily.com.cn