China Environmental Law

I am going to be completely submerged for the next several weeks. Consequently, the posting frequency will take a noticeable dip and the general inattention to all things blog related will increase. This is unfortunate timing given the nice plug from Brad Plumer. Plumer, who calls this resource indispensible, is author of the truly indispensable blog, The [...]

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If there has been a gradual “softening” in China’s climate change rhetoric lately, it was forcefully arrested today by the frosty, hard-line comments of China’s top climate change official, Xie Zhenhua, before a meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC). Here’s what he said, in bullet form:

The conflict between developed countries [...]

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The Climate Group launched its second homage to China’s low carbon efforts yesterday, “China’s Clean Revolution II : Opportunities for a low carbon future.”  It starts well-enough with an acknowledgement (page 5) that
In recent years the scientific evidence on climate change has become increasingly clear: it is now almost universally accepted that, in order to [...]

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You may have read about the water contamination case in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province.  If not, Greenlaw and New Energy and Environment Digest (NEED) have good summaries.  NEED states that
An estimated one million of the city’s 1.5 million residents were left without water due to what government identified as the presence of two variants of carbolic [...]

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Reuters has prepared a nice graphic of the three emissions scenarios considered in a recently published report by a panel from the National Development and Reform Commission and the Development Research Center of the State Council.  The panel has previewed its findings a number of times over the past several months, but has now formally [...]

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I think I liked it better when China wasn’t talking about an emissions peak.  I had constructed my own fantasy world where China’s emissions topped out around 2030, plus or minus five years, having grown by only 15 to 20% from today’s levels.
My fantasy world was shattered by Su Wei, Director-General of the Office of [...]

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An otherwise good article in the NYT yesterday about the environmental effects of solid waste incineration in China may have left readers with a misimpression.
Critics and admirers of incinerators alike call for more recycling and reduced use of packaging as ways to reduce the daily volume of municipal garbage. Even when not recycled, sorted trash [...]

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Can’t decide which China cleantech, clean energy, or “green” conference to attend this fall?  Your problems are solved!  Mark your calendars (September 7-8) and register now for Greentech: A Call to Action
Co-Organized by AmCham Shanghai and the Asia Society, the conference is
a platform for policy makers, leading technology companies, entrepreneurs, investors and NGOs to collaborate [...]

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I am not going to write anything today because you must read this article from Caijing Magazine: Heavy Metal Warfare.  It covers the smelting industry along the Xiang river in Hunan province 1 the , and in the process provides a telling picture of the challenges faced by Chinese environmental regulators across the vast rural [...]

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I know its hard to keep the incidents of environmental poisonings straight in China. Today’s post involves the more than 300 children living in the shadow of a lead and zinc smelting facility in Fengxiang county, Shaanxi province who have been reported with levels of lead in their blood so high they were exhibiting symptoms [...]

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