China Environmental Law

The morning sessions today were by far the best of the conference, but they had little to do with environmental sustainability. The first addressed the “sustainability of the World Trading system” and the second dealt with the “Future of Culture in the Age of Commerce.”  Both topics could have supported separate conferences, and are probably [...]

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I recognize that it is difficult for the organizers of any conference to keep all speakers on topic, especially when many are the representatives of governmental and corporate co-sponsors.  In yesterday’s panels, a number of speakers seemed to forget the theme. Thus, I am happy to report that the first panel of the morning generally [...]

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The Asia Society’s 18th Asian Corporate Conference has returned for the third time to China (it has not been here since Shanghai in 2000), and it picked Tianjin as its locale and the Tianjin Municipal People’s Government as its co-sponsor. Yesterday was not the kind of day Tianjin must have hoped for to showcase its new [...]

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I’m off to the Asia Society’s 18th Asian Corporate Conference in Tianjin-which the Society’s website helpfully notes for the geographically challenged “is over 1000 miles away from the epicenter [of the Wenchuan earthquake], and suffered no physical damage in the earthquake.”
The conference will
seek to better understand the opportunities and challenges in China’s economic development and to [...]

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The Guardian ran an article yesterday reporting on a new study of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) program under the Kyoto process which will certainly increase debate about the efficacy of the program.
On one side of the debate are
Leading academics and watchdog groups [who] allege that the UN’s main offset fund is being routinely abused by [...]

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China has certainly been cozying up to Japan on the climate change front recently.  Earlier this month Hu Jintao and Japan’s Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda agreedto strengthen climate change cooperation, and yesterday, Bloomberg is reporting,
China said it wants Japan to set up a forum in Tokyo with developers of clean technologies this year to help [...]

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Sorry to belabor this topic but the facts keep changing, and I want to try keep the record straight.
Nuclear: 50 total radiation “sources” and counting, 15 remain buried or inaccessible
In our original post we quoted an article that reported
China has so far recovered 30 of the 32 radioactive sources which were buried under the [...]

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It was reported yesterday (after I had posted my take on this topic) on China.org.cn that
The Environmental Protection Agency in Chengdu has taken emergency measures to ensure safe drinking water. They are coping with contamination in Zi Pingpu reservoir, Chengdu’s major water source of drinking water.
Ma Ning, director of the Environmental Protection Supervision Center in [...]

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I have had several inquiries as to the “environmental” toll of the Wenchuan earthquake. The short answer is it is hard to say. Defining “environmental” damage in this situation is problematic. A landslide that occurs in an unoccupied area may cause extensive damage to the pre-existing environment, but I don’t think that is what most [...]

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It’s been very busy here today so I have not had time to prepare a thoughtful piece on China’s macro-environmental condition, but I can provide a few observations on the micro-environmental situation here at the CELB offices. 
The floor above us is being renovated. In addition to the jack-hammering, riveting, and explosions we’ve been treated to over the last [...]

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