Speech at “Climate Public Expenditure and Institutional Review in China” Report Launch
在《中国气候公共财政统计分析研究》报告发布会的开场致辞
Christophe Bahuet, Country Director, UNDP China
联合国开发计划署驻华代表处国别主任 白桦
14 April 2015, Beijing
2015年4月14日，北京
Dr. Su Ming, Director General, Research Institute for Fiscal Science, Ministry of Finance,
Representatives from the Ministry of Finance, NDRC, and other Government agencies,
Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
苏明所长，
中国财政部、国家发展和改革委员会以及其他政府部门的各位代表，
各位尊敬的来宾，女士们和先生们，
I would first like to thank all of you for your presence here today at the launch of the report entitled “Climate Public Expenditure and Institutional Review (CPEIR) in China”. This report aims at making a useful contribution to the provision of information and the formulation of policies related to climate change in China. It also aims at fostering discussion and exchange of ideas between Government officials, experts, and representatives of the international community. And this is in that spirit that we have organized this event today and have sent you the invitation that you have kindly accepted.
我首先感谢你们今天来到《中国气候公共财政统计分析研究》的报告发布会。这份报告旨在为中国气候变化政策的制定提供有用的信息，也意在促进政府、学术机构以及国际组织工作人员之间的交流和讨论。 这就是我们举办今天这项活动的意义所在。
Today’s event and the report itself are the result of a partnership. On behalf of UNDP, I would like to thank especially the Research Institute for Fiscal Science (RIFS) under the Ministry of Finance and I would like to underscore the significant efforts that RIFS put into collecting and analyzing data for evidence-based reporting. We are delighted that DDG Su Ming is here with us today. Let me also express our gratitude to the representatives of the Government of China, in particular National Development Reform Commission (NDRC) and Ministry of Finance (MOF), as well as representatives from the academia for your invaluable contributions to the research, and also for your willingness to participate in this report launch today. Last but not least, I want to thank the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and the Department for International Development (DFID) for providing their financial support to the project.
这份报告和今天的活动是合作的成果。我代表联合国开发计划署，特别感谢财政部财政科学研究所课题组以及他们在收集和分析数据过程中所做出的巨大努力。我们非常高兴苏明所长今天前来。在此，我也向政府，尤其是中国发展和改革委员会和财政部的各位代表，以及学术界的专家表达感激，感谢他们对于这份报告的研究所做出的贡献以及他们今天的到来。借此之际，我也感谢瑞典国际发展合作署（Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, SIDA）和英国国际发展署（Department for International Development, DFID)为这个项目所提供的资金援助。
To set the scene, let me say a few words about the overall background of the report and the reasons why UNDP has engaged in CPEIR in about twenty countries. Back in 2009, at the time of the financial crisis, a certain prominent economist called Lord Nicholas Stern called for the G20 group of countries – which China is due to become President of in 2016 – to deliver a “green stimulus”. Specifically, he calculated that they should devote around 20% of the fiscal stimulus package towards green, climate-proofing measures. However, whether or not that call was valid, the fact is that then and until now, it has not been possible to say whether or not the G20 countries have done this.
作为开场，我想介绍一下这个报告的背景以及联合国开发计划署在近20个国家参与这项研究的原因。早在2009年金融危机之时，著名经济学家 尼古拉斯·斯特恩（Nicholas Stern）就号召二十国集团成员国发起一个“绿色动力”倡议，而中国将在2016年担任二十国集团的主席。具体而言，这些国家应该把20% 左右的财政预算用于绿色以及减缓气候变化的措施。然而，不管这个计算是否准确，事实是直到现在为止，我们不能判断二十国集团成员国是否已经做到这点。
More broadly and as the report points out, the lack of a clear picture of climate related public spending patterns makes it very difficult for the Government to evaluate and inform the alignment of public spending with its climate related priorities and other policies. That is true for China as well as other countries.
更深入考虑，也正如报告指出的，气候公共财政支出缺乏清晰的评估给政府在评价和报告气候相关政策的制定造成了很大的困难。这是中国和其他各国都会遇到的难题。
That’s why UNDP, together with other international agencies, introduced the idea of conducting CPEIR and developed a methodology to help countries review how their domestic climate change policy aims are reflected in public spending. The CPEIR is one of the very first toolkits to offer a practical and reliable approach at identifying expenditures that help mitigate climate change. This is a significant improvement from existing studies that primarily investigate the use of specifically dedicated funds to climate-related issues.
正因如此，联合国开发计划署联合其他国际机构，发起了气候公共支出与制度评估计划（CPEIR）并提出了能够帮助各国梳理侧重气候变化的公共支出的方法论。 CPEIR是第一个可靠又可操作的以及能够帮助识别财政支出的气候相关程度的方法。 这对于目前的研究是一个显著的改善，因为当前研究大多只侧重于用于气候变化专门款项的研究。
Since 2011, CPEIRs or similar studies have been conducted in 19 countries. For China, this report is particularly timely as the Government has announced its plans to intensify efforts to prioritize climate issues, and considerable resources have already been invested in green sectors.
自2011年起，CPEIR或类似研究在19个国家先后进行。对于中国而言，这个项目恰到时分，因为政府正加大力度整治气候问题，并已经投入相当多的资源在绿色产业部门。
The report provides quantified evidence of this through data and trends. It also provides detailed information on China’s institutional framework that is of utmost importance for both the allocation of resources and the efficiency of public spending. Finally, the report highlights improved laws, regulations, policy measures, which ensure the delivery of greenhouse gas reduction and energy conservation.
这份报告提供了详细的量化数据来反映这些投入，并梳理了对保证资源分配和公共支出有效性至关重要的机构框架。报告强调了中国在立法、规章制度和相关政策上取得的进步，以及其在节能减排上所起的积极作用。
But while China is achieving some success, the report also documents the downward trend of the total share of national public expenditure for energy conservation and environmental protection programs – from 2.7% in 2010 to 1.3% in 2013. Adding to this, the report finds that 7% of the central government budget was spent on measures directly or partially targeted to address climate change in 2014.
报告指出，在取得成绩的同时，政府在节能减排的公共财政支出所呈现下行趋势。具体来说，该项支出占国家财政支出总额的比例从2010年的2.7%下降到2013年的1.3%。不仅如此，报告发现2014年中央政府财政预算的7%用于了适应或缓解气候变化高度或者部分相关的措施项目。
With this in mind, and based on experiences learnt from other countries, the report calls for more substantive reforms of climate policies, institutional arrangements and fiscal management to improve public climate expenditure in China. The introduction of the new budgetary item “Addressing Climate Change Management Affairs” is a great starting point. But there could be more, and that’s what we’re here to discuss today. In addition, there is more to study and more to refine in order to go deeper into the analysis for China particularly for public expenditures at local Government level, so our hope is that we can discuss ideas for that today as well.
鉴于这些信息，并基于其他国家的经验，报告建议中国施行更彻底的基于气候政策、机构框架以及财政管理的改革，以改善气候公共财政支出。新的财政科目“应对气候变化管理事务”的设立是一个非常好的开端，但是还应该有更多的改革举措，这也是我们今天要讨论的。并且，关于中国气候公共财政支出还有更多需要研究、深入和精炼的内容，尤其在地方政府支出的层面。我们也希望可以借今天的机会予以讨论。
Through research and dialogue, UNDP aims to produce knowledge that is useful to inform policies. We therefore look forward to discussing the report with you today, and continuing our collaboration with RIFS and MOF and other partners on what can be called the most critical issue of our time, here in China but also for the rest of the world’s development progress.
通过研究和对话的形式，联合国开发计划署旨在提出对政策有指导意义的知识。 因此，我们希望今天可以和在座的各位讨论报告，并进一步与财政部及财政科学研究所以及其他各方在当今中国和世界发展的重要问题上予以合作。
Thank you.
谢谢！
来源：UNDP
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