To improve its environmental standing both domestically and on the international stage, experts say it's time China adopted a new policy approach.

Like many developing nations, China has long suffered from heavily polluted air and water. But now the Asian powerhouse also faces the difficulty of addressing these issues amidst heightened pressure for economic growth and industrial development.

Experts from Yale and Columbia University argue in a joint report released yesterday that in order to address its environmental problems, China's policymakers must improve their analytical and monitoring capabilities, particularly at the provincial level. The new report also tracks China's process toward its policy goals and recommends ways for Chinese leaders to improve their decisionmaking on environmental issues.

"As the world's most populous country and second largest economy, China is confronting significant environmental challenges across the board, from air and water quality to natural resource management, waste management, toxics exposure, biodiversity conservation, and greenhouse gas emissions," said Douglas Kysar, interim director of the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, in a statement highlighting the need for a new course of action.

According to the Environmental Sustainability Index for 2010, another Yale-Columbia collaboration, China ranks 121st in a ranking of 163 countries based on environmental performance. Air quality in China has been a particular concern. According to researchers, the debate largely surrounds the central Chinese government's failure to release accurate air quality measurements.

"The recent controversies surrounding air quality in Beijing highlight the importance of measurement and appropriate metrics to inform sound decision-making in China," said Marc Levy, deputy director of the Center for International Earth Science Information Network at Columbia University, in a statement. He added, "It is important for the government to have policy tools that are adequate for guiding and prioritizing action."

Given China's geographic, cultural and economic diversity, the paper's authors argue that sub-national indicators are the most effective way to "spot critical issues, track trends, evaluate policy success and target funding" for the development of a broader environmental policy in the country.

Beijing leads the provinces

The report found, however, that based on all available data, it is not possible to develop an environmental performance index to rank provinces across a broad range of environmental categories, including air pollution, water quality, forestry and climate change. Many environmental metrics lacked clear policy targets, according the authors. There were also concerns over the sources and level of transparency in the available data.

While it did not produce a comprehensive index, researchers did rank China's 31 provinces based on certain specific policy areas. For instance, Beijing ranked first based on the percentage of residents with access to tap water in urban areas; Xizang ranked last. The study also ranked provinces from best to worst on concentration of air pollution, waste management, use of fertilizers and pesticides and other potentially environmentally damaging practices.

Earlier this year, Niu Wenyuan, Chinese geographer and adviser to Premier of the People's Republic of China Wen Jiabao, conducted a similar evaluation of China's provinces, reflecting the view that China needs a better way of monitoring its economic productivity, but also the losses paid by the natural world.

Researchers from the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning and City University of Hong Kong partnered with Yale and Columbia University to produce the "Towards a China Environmental Performance Index" report. The study comes as Chinese policymakers are in the process of implementing the recently adopted 12th Five-Year Plan at the local level.

"Filling the information gaps identified by this research project will enable policymakers to better spot problems, track trends, highlight policy successes and failures, identify best practices, and optimize the gains from investments in environmental protection," said Angel Hsu, China EPI project director at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

"Given the challenges China faces, it is important for the government to have policy tools, like a provincial-level EPI, that can help guide effective pollution control and natural resource management."