ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP’s) environmental aid programme as well as the motives behind its approach. Clearly, a human-centred approach to environmental management runs counter to China’s traditional thinking and practice which raises the question of its acceptability in the eyes of the Chinese government. The chapter addresses this question by tracing the implementation process from policy dialogue at the national level to the local implementation of environmental projects in Shenyang, Wuhan, Benxi and Guiyang. To the extent that the human development model of environmental management can be applied to China, the key objective is to assess its effectiveness in actually building local capacity. The UNDP, founded in 1965, is the United Nation’s largest source of grants for development assistance. As a multilateral organization, the UNDP is linked to the United Nations General Assembly through the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
