海南师范大学外国语学院2011级《英语国家概况》课程论文英国环境保护政策的研究The study of UK‟s policy on environmental protection姓名:学号:专业:年级:系别:完成日期:指导教师:The study of UK’s policy on environmental protectionAuthor: Yu Ruixue Yang Shuping Supervisor: Xue Haiyan (Foreign Language college, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158)Abstract:This paper introduces the main polluted areas and solutions of UK on environment pollution, which includes the air pollution, the water pollution, land pollution, the deforestation, and the industrial and household waste as well as their solutions. It aims at clarifying the reasons and urgency of solutions UK took on environmental protection and figure out the helpful lessons in modern society considering the situation and development of China. The research may help both the environmental e ducators or learners who want to do a research on UK‟s policy on environmental protection and common people who wants to learn something about environmental protection.Key words:UK,industrial revolution, environmental protection, effective英国环境保护的研究作者:余睿雪杨淑平指导教师:薛海燕(海南师范大学外国语学院,海口,571158)摘要:本文介绍了英国环境污染主要地区和保护环境的解决方针,其中包括大气污染、水污染、土地污染、森林破坏以及工业和生活浪费以及各个对应的解决方针。
本文主旨是阐明英国实施环境保护政策的适时性,中国对此学到的经验、教训。
本次研究可能受益的有:想要从事英国环境保护政策研究的教育者、学习者以及想要对英国环境保护有所了解的人。
关键词:英国;工业革命;环境保护;有效Contents:1. Introduction (4)1.1Background information (4)1.2Warning bell (4)2. Environmental protection (5)2.1Air Pollution (5)2.2Land pollution (5)2.3Water pollution (7)2.4Deforestation (7)2.5Industrial and Household waste.............................................. (7)3. The analysis of the solutions on environment protection (8)3.1 The achievements of the solutions (8)3.2 The environment protection expenditure................................... (8)4. Conclusion (9)4.1 Go to the future (9)4.2 The lessons of UK‟s environmental protection for China (10)Bibliography (10)Introduction:As we all know, Britain as a successful example of industrial revolution, he brings the world too much surprise. But at the same time, he also paid a big price for what he did. With the rapid increase of economy, people just knew profit and they ignore the environmental idea. People from all classes grab various resources from the nature and emit all kinds of contaminates. Neither living condition nor running conditions were desperate. Fortunately, the government and some people realized these terrible problems and tried their best to improve the lost consciousness of environment. So Britain has taken a serious of environmental protection action then. And we will see how UK effectively keeps away from endless cloudy.1.1.Background informationIn 1765, the appearance of the Jenny spinning machine officially opened the prelude of “mechanical age”. In the middle of 19th century, Britain has become the highest industrialized country all over the world, and has been regarded as “the factory of the world”. But on the way to society and urbanization, with the development of modern society, a series of environmental problems followed. The use of factories and mass production has led to a depletion of certain natural resources, leaving the environment permanently damaged1.2. Warning bellApparently, UK took the policy of “pollution first, treatment later”, which despoils their bright sunshine and blue sky. In the late 19th century, the increasing problems of environmental pollution and diseases shocked the whole nation. (It also caused environmental damage - for example, waste sent to landfill produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. They wanted to move towards a …zero waste economy‟. This doesn‟t mean that no waste exists - it‟s a society where resources are fully valued, financially and environmentally. It means they reduce, reuse and recycle all we can, and throw things away only as a last resort.)In that case, the British parliament carried out a large amount of environmental survey. After mastering and understanding a lotsof materials and data basis, they passed some constitution and tried to find out solutions by legislation.Environmental protections:2.1. Air PollutionBack in the Middle Ages the use of coal in cities such as London, air Pollution was beginning to escalate. The problems of poor urban air quality even as early as the end of the 16th century are well documented. In the UK the Industrial Revolution during the 18th and 19th centuries was based on the use of coal. Industries were often located in towns and cities, and together with the burning of coal in homes for domestic heat, urban air pollution levels often reached very high levels. During foggy conditions, pollution levels escalated and urban smogs (smoke and fog) were formed. These often brought cities to a halt, disrupting traffic but more dangerously causing death rates to dramatically rise. The effects of this pollution on buildings and vegetation also became obvious.British parliamentary has spent lots of time on it. In 1863, the parliamentary has passed the Alkali Works Act which required the alkali industry to suppress 95% emissions in order to control the poisoned gas produced by alkali manufactory technology. The second Alkali Works Act was issued in 1874 which required the factories to take effective measures to control the poisoned and harm gas, and classified the industries in 1907. The 1875 Public Health Act contained a smoke abatement section to try and reduce smoke pollution in urban areas. British parliamentary had passed overall and systematic Gas Cleaning Act because of the big impact of London gas event in 1952. In 1995, the Government passed its Environment Act, requiring the publication of a “National Air Quality Strategy”to set “standards” for the regulation of the most common air pollutants.2.2. Land pollutionDuring extraction and mining activities, many land space are created beneath the surface, so the land caving in is often heard. Besides, due to increase in demand forfood, shelter and house, more goods are produced. This resulted in creation of more waste that needs to be disposed of. Research and development paved the way for modern fertilizers and chemicals that were highly toxic and led to soil contaminations and so on, all these things just led to the severe land pollution.So the UK Department of Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is developed the First Soil Action Plan for England in 2004 and establishes policy for the clean up of contaminated land. Primary responsibility for the management of contaminated lands lies with local authorities, and voluntary solutions to contamination problems are sought when possible. The Environmental Protection Act 1990 establishes who should pay for remediation and requires that local authorities identify contaminated land. The UK's 2006 Contaminated Land Regulations include rules for public registers of contaminated properties and for remediation notices. DEFRA manages the Contaminated Land Capital Projects Programme to assist local authorities in investigating and remediating contaminated land. The UK Department for Communities and Local Government oversees land contamination issues in planning under Planning Policy Statement 23 and the Office of the Prime Minister is responsible for policy on Brownfield in the UK. A number of quasi-governmental and non-governmental organizations in the UK support work to remediate contaminated properties and address economic development challenges associated with Brownfield. There are many organizations to protect the contaminated land, such as: Contaminated Land: Applications in Real Environments (CLAIRE), which is an independent, not-for-profit organization established to stimulate the regeneration of contaminated land in the UK. The British Land Reclamation Society is an interdisciplinary nonprofit organization concerned with the reclamation, regeneration, and restoration of land. The British Urban Regeneratation Association identifies and promotes best practice in regeneration, and the Contaminated Land Assessment & Remediation Research Centre develops technology for sustainable, cost-effective assessment and remediation of contaminated environments.2.3. Water pollutionWater pollution is a chemical or biological substance that builds up in the environment enough to be toxic, harmful or a nuisance to humans, other animals, or other living things. The pollution could be a combination of sewage, oil, acid rain, highway runoff, and all kinds of other things.From 1874 to 1855, British parliamentary has passed The Channel Law. Public Health Law, Capital Management Action. Eliminate The Pollution Harm Act, The Regulation Of River Pollution Protection And Treatment. Public Health Regulation in order to solve problem of water pollution and urban water use. So far, British has basically established the integrated legal system water pollution prevention.2.4. DeforestationDuring the industrial revolution, the population of UK increased rapidly. Therefore, the demand for food, shelter and cloth has almost tripled in the 18 century. To overcome growing demand, a direct and convenient action that we have come to recognize as “deforestation” occurs.In order to protect the forests, the government has done much. In January 2013, the government published the …Forestry and woodlands policy statement‟. This sets out how they will protect, improve and expand the public and private woodlands.In July 2013 the government published an implementation plan which details the progress they have made against the 36 commitments in the policy statement.To make sure that the policies are properly managed and protected, the government also set up a new, independent public body, which will hold the Public Forest Estate in trust for the nation and provide funding for the management of these forests, including £3.5 million that they‟ve included in the ForestryCommission budget for 2013 to 14 and up to £2 million to implement the plans in the forestry and woodlands policy statement.2.5. Industrial and Household waste.With the development of industry and the demand for food, shelter and house, more good are produced.The UK generates about 177 million tones of waste every year in England alone. This is a poor use of resources and costs businesses andhouseholds‟ money. It also causes environmental damage - for example, waste sent to landfill produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. So the UK government t took actions to help people and organizations make the most of opportunities to save money by reducing waste.The government developed the waste prevention programme for England. The programme sets out to help businesses understand and take advantage of the savings they can make by using resources efficiently and preventing waste; make it easier for people to find out how to reduce their waste, and how to reuse items they no longer want; help organizations and people to make the most of opportunities to save money by reducing waste; carry out the plans we set out in the regulation and enforcement section of the review of waste policy; carry out research to develop a better evidence base to inform approaches to regulation and policy.The analysis of the solutions on environment protection:3.1. The achievements of the solutions:From above all, we can know that the UK has followed numerous forthright policies in tackling the long-standing environment issues, which make a great progress in environment protection. In the 19th century, UK‟s carbon emission ranks the first around the whole world, however in 2004, the UK was the world‟s 8th greatest producer of a man-made carbon emission, producing around 2.3% of the total generated from fossil fuel. According to UK‟s Low Carbon Transition Plan, by 2020, more than 1.2 million people will be in green jobs; 7million homes will have benefited from whole house makeovers, and more than 1.5 million households will be supported to produce their own clean energy; around 40 percent of electricity will be from low-carbon sources, from renewable energy resources, nuclear and clean coal. The average new car will emit 40 percent less carbon than now.Besides, UK has helped to launch the Climate Change Financing to assist the developing countries with $100 billion a year of public and private finaces.3.2. The environment protection expenditure.Environmental protection expenditure is defined as spending incurred by the company where the primary aim is to reduce environmental pollution caused during normal operations. It includes expenditure: to reduce or prevent emissions to air or water, to dispose of waste materials, to protect soil and groundwater, to prevent noise and vibration or to protect the natural environment. This definition has been agreed by all EU countries so we can produce information on the same basis.Environmental spending does not include spending on health and safety or any pending where the primary purpose is other than environmental protection. It includes: The purchase price of capital goods (to be recorded in the year in which they are introduced), both "end of pipe" and "integrated" capital investments (see diagram which illustrates these types of spending); Operational (running) costs of the company's own environmental management/ control activities; Payments to others for environmental protection services, for example for waste disposal, charges made by Water Service Companies for sewage treatment and general sewage charges.Conclusion:4.1.Go to the futureNowadays, the UK always commits to help their countries away from the haze one hundred years ago. The UK government was followed a forthright policy in tackling climate change since the Kyoto Protocol was signed in 1997. Under the agreement the government has agreed that the UK will meet tough targets to reduces carbon emissions incrementally between now and 2020.In November 2000, the UK Climate Change Programme was lunched by the British government in response to its commitment agreed at 1992 United Nation Conference on Environment and Development ( UNCED ). As the UK was still the world‟s 8th greatest producer of man made carbon commissions. The program aimedat cutting its green house emission.In November 2008, the Climate Change Act became Law. The act puts in place a framework to achieve a mandatory 80% cut in the UK‟s carbon emission by 2050.And two years followed, many kinds of commitment has been held that made some big strategies in order to realize the least green house gas emission, at the sametime, the most energy people get.4.2. Lessons for China:Not accidentally, in 1952 the UK's stage of economic development, its GDP per capita, was approximately the same as China's today. Looking at the lessons of London's pollution catastrophe, and how subsequently the situation in both the city and the UK was improved, may contain some lessons of use for China. Everyone wants to a cleaner environment to live, but, how should China do to provide us such a environment? Through our careful survey and conclusion, our suggestions are as following.Firstly, China is required to attaches high attention on environmental protection and get ready for a long struggle with more energy and expense. We may make great pollution in a day, but we can not solve the polluted problems within a day, which means that China has a long road to solve the pollution problems. Secondly, in the process of economy building, we are required to take care of environmental protection in case of falling into a wrong road that “pollution first, treatment last”. It means the government should take actions on economy and environment at the same time. Thirdly, as common people, we are suggested to learn more tips about environmental protection and do it right now no matter the effect of what we did big or nor. Such as saving every pieces of paper, trying to recycle what can be recycled and so on. With the help of government and all people around our country, we would lead a balanced development both ecological and environmental.Bibliography[1] Cause of land pollution. [DB/OL] /。