Thoughts on the evaluation indicators of effectiveness of environmental impact assessment system in China

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) system of China has attracted considerable attention and controversy. When judging a system, it is important to consider its effectiveness objectively. The effectiveness of EIA is reflected in the entire process of system construction, system implementation, and taking effects, with multidimensional meaning. Aming at sustainable development of economy, society and environment, an evaluation framework of China's EIA system was explored and constructed based on the logic chain of "institutional basis→practical process→taking effects→social cognition", from four aspects of system effectiveness, procedural effectiveness, substantial effectiveness and cognitive effectiveness. Combined with the EIA system design and implementation mode of China, a set of scientific and applicable effectiveness evaluation indicators, with both practicality and flexibility, were proposed. These could provide ideas for objective and systematic assessment of China's EIA system, as well as reference for the establishment of a mechanism for tracking evaluation of the effectiveness of China's EIA system and for supporting its reform and optimization.