Reforming China's multi-level environmental governance: Lessons from the 11th Five-Year Plan

China's planned environmentalism during the 11th Five-Year Plan (FYP) period was successful at reducing sulfur dioxide (SO2) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) due to the target responsibility system (TRS) on pollution reduction goals, which led to a redefined responsibility of environmental protection from local Environmental Protection Bureaus (EPBs) to local government leaders. However, the weakness of current mono-centric planning process is obvious in the context of governing complex socio-ecological changes. In this paper, two alternative approaches, decentralization of the nation's planning regime and participatory governance with public involvement, were proposed to improve China's environmental governance system. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.