지방화·세계화 시대의 지역환경관리의 과제와 정책방안

Abstract

During globalization, the provinces are no longer protected by the national border, thus are directly exposed to the world-wide competition. A province is not an outer or isolated area any more. It has now become an independent organization required to compete with provinces of another country on an equivalent basis. In order to make a province self-reliant and competitive so that it can survive against the turbulent waves of globalization, power and competency of municipalities should be reinforced. This research touches upon the strategy for provinces in response to globalization focusing on environmental issues. This study reviews the current status of the local environment management and problems in four aspects: division of roles for the environmental administrations between the central and local governments, allocation of environmental budgets between the central and local governments, administration systems of the municipalities, and locall environmental governance. In addition, issues on localization and globalization are identified and policy options are presented. This paper provides following suggestions whose implementation is sure to contribute to the sustainable growth of municipalities. In order to suggest the ideas, the researcher of this paper tried to understand and resolve problems with regard to the topic and analysed the current status of the local environmental management and its cases. First, when it comes to the solution of a given environmental problem, its administrative authority shall be divided either to the central or local government- whichever is more appropriate. Once a decision is made to transfer or delegate authority to municipalities, the capability and willpower of the environmental administration and management should be evaluated by the local authority so that a tiered allocation of authority based on the evaluation results can be carried out. Once authority is transferred, following up needs to be continuous and proper incentive or punishment should be given based on the evaluation results offering a basis for the local government to faithfully carry out the obligations transferred. Second, the resources for tackling the environmental issues at municipalities need to be expanded and they should be given more leeway in budgeting. At the same time, the ratio of subsidizing the municipalities needs to be adjusted in line with the degree of its self-reliance. By integrating the subsidies that have been allocated to each project, a comprehensive type of subsidy system should be expanded and a financial support system based on the evaluation results of the environmental conditions and performance should be in place. Third, in order to realize sustainable growth for the municipalities and for the more efficient environmental protection, the environmental-related tasks needs to be managed in an integrated approach classified by the medium of contamination. In particular, what should be built is an organic job link and support system among the different divisions in charge of economic, social and environmental affairs and adjustment and integration of different policies. For an integrated environmental management, the current management that has been implemented for each single different medium for air, water, soil, waste, and natural environment needs to be integrated. In addition, an installation of the Local Commission on Sustainable Development is required to ensure an organic job connection among different divisions in charge of economic, social and environmental affairs and adjustment of policies. Fourth, in order to solve the environmental problems affecting a wide area or region such as air or water contamination, cooperation of neighboring municipalities is essential. In order to identify reasonable solutions to the environmental problems affecting a wide area including the establishment of green areas to preserve the natural ecosystem, an improvement of the water quality of rivers, prevention of spread of air pollution, management of air quality across wide areas, and joint utilization of waste treatment facilities, functions of high-level organizations needs to be adjusted while the administrative council among different municipalities should be established and reinforced. Fifth, for a successful operation of local environmental governance, system of forming consensus based on the mutual understanding and trust among government, enterprise, and civil society is required. Such local environmental governance as the Local Agenda 21 and the Local Commission on Sustainable Development should take root in the local system and an organic link needs to be formed between the two. Sixth, in order for the municipalities to accept the global standards and actively respond to the global environmental issues and international environmental regime, there should be a task force team formed to tackle global environmental problems and promote international cooperation at the level of municipalities. In addition, they should be actively responding to the environmental problems at the local or global level by setting forth their opinions by attending various international conferences on environmental issues or joining international environmental organizations or promoting cooperation with local authorities of other countries.