China Environmental Law

China recently released some findings from its survey of air and water pollution sources.  The most striking fact was the significant impact of agricultural non-point sources on water pollution levels.  Air and water (at least surface water) pollution which are easily observed generate more attention than pollution of the soil, yet once [...]

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The Panyu waste incineration plant protest in Guangzhou last week was important for a number of reasons, but one of the most thoughtful takes on the event comes from an unlikely source, the Communist Party of China’s Guangdong Party School.
In an article entitled, “Confronting pollution: ‘expel it’ or ‘manage it’”? (I’d welcome a better translation, [...]

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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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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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There have been two “firsts” recently reported in the  China environmental litigation arena.  It is easy to get the two cases confused because the plaintiff in both is the All-China Environmental Federation (ACEF).
The ACEF is listed on the Ministry of Environmental Protection’s website as an “affiliated social organization” It was established on April 22, 2005 and [...]

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I have not been slow to criticize Greenpeace when I believe it has pursued soft targets or otherwise pulled its punches in China, so when it tackles an important and sensitive domestic issue and delivers a clear and needed message to the Chinese government, I am happy to offer it praise.

Last week Greenpeace issued “Polluting [...]

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The Ministry of Environmental Protection released the English summary of its “State of the Environment” report earlier this month.  We have read it so you won’t have to.
Let’s first look at the ten achievements identified for 2008.  Where interesting facts and figures were given, we have noted them.

First, the CPC Central Committee and the State [...]

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Hats off to Zhou Shengxian, the Minister of the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP)!  He has always been fairly outspoken and frankly critical of local implementation of national environmental laws and policies, but his comments today in an interview with China Daily reveal a new level of commitment to China’s environment, and a candor not often [...]

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