China Introduces "Green Insurance System"     

China is to introduce a "green insurance system" to better monitor polluting industries and help victims get immediate compensation, according to the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) on February 18th.
  "The system, which aimed to have all industries with pollution risks insured, would be tried out this year in companies that produce, sell, store, transport or use high-risk chemical products and petrochemical industries and dangerous waste disposing enterprises that are prone to heavy and serious pollution accidents," said Pan Yue, Deputy Director of SEPA, "enterprises and industries having caused serious pollution accidents in recent years will be specially targeted."
    China is in a period of high incidence of environmental pollution accidents. Altogether, 108 cases of emergent environmental incidents were reported in 2007, with one case every two working days on average, according to Pan.
    The system will be implemented nationwide by 2015 after a trial period, according to a road map jointly set by SEPA and the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.