In our opinion, China could learn from the success of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in providing open-access environmental information to the public. This would enhance the credibility of government decisions.

The EPA's Toxics Release Inventory programme, in partnership with state agencies, collects data from enterprises that must report emissions. It subjects this information to quality-assurance reviews, trends analysis and error correction, as well as making it publicly available. This evaluation of the entire information-flow process increases transparency and accountability.

Using a comparable holistic approach, China's Ministry of Environmental Protection could develop a secure access point for ministries and agencies and a web portal for public access. A designated group might set quality standards and policies for handling such information, akin to the EPA's Office of Environmental Information.