Monthly Archives: October 2008
Walmart announces new environmental initiatives in China
Wal-Mart announced on Wednesday in Beijing a series of environmental initiatives that, if fully implemented, could dramatically reduce the pollution coming from thousands of Wal-Mart suppliers (and the suppliers of these suppliers) in China. Here are a few of the new requirements announced (as noted in the Wall Street Journal): “Wal-Mart said it will require third-party certification that suppliers are meeting all the safety, labor and environmental standards required by local laws.” “Manufacturers that sell directly to Wal-Mart also must provide the retailer with lists of their suppliers.” “Wal-Mart said it will phase in energy-efficiency requirements with its Chinese suppliers … Continue reading 阅读全文 Add comment 发表评论(0)
Environmental Law and Public Participation News
As the cold winter air starts to chill much of China, the hot topics for the week are rising heating prices and the need for fair hearings. Rising heating prices have imposed a great burden on Chinese families already strapped for cash, and a number of articles and editorials in the Chinese media now express concern about the fairness of heating price hearings held by the government, where information on the price of heating is not fully transparent. Citizen complaints have already caused the Shantou government to freeze any heating price increase for this winter – but as the Xinhua … Continue reading 阅读全文 Add comment 发表评论(0)
Yangtze Delta environmental NGOs jointly publish "Green Front" newsletter
In October 2003, four environmental NGOs – Zhejiang Green Volunteers Association, Jiangsu Friend of Green, Shanghai Green Oasis and Green Anhui – jointly launched the Declaration of Protection of Taihu, marking the first instance of regional collaboration among Chinese environmental NGOs. In the following years, this alliance has worked to strengthen integration and enhance its influence in the Yangtze Delta, an area which bears some of the heaviest environmental burdens in China. This cooperation grew into the Green Yangtze Delta in 2008. Their first joint project is to edit a regional environmental newsletter with support from NRDC. In June 2008, … Continue reading 阅读全文 Add comment 发表评论(1)
Reflections on Citizen Victories in Recent Information Disclosure Cases
On October 10th, ChinaNews reprinted separate articles, originally published in China Youth Reports and New Beijing Reports, on citizen victories over government in two recent public information cases. The first item detailed a lawsuit between Xu Jianguo, a lawyer of Huanggang City, Hubei Province, and that city’s Transportation Department. Xu had brought the case against the Department for its non-response to his request for information on motor-vehicle road maintenance fees. The Court concluded by ruling against the Transportation Department and requesting its compliance with Xu’s application. The second item involved a complaint lodged by 68 villagers of Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, … Continue reading 阅读全文 Add comment 发表评论(0)
Environmental NGOs to sponsor major environmental forum in Beijing (Oct. 30-31, 2008)
The 2008 China Environmental NGO Sustainable Development Forum will be held in Beijing from October 30 to 31 by the All-China Environment Federation (ACEF), and co-organized by NRDC and several other NGOs in China. The theme for this year is “Promoting Public Participation, Establishing Low Carbon Economy.” As a co-organizer, NRDC is organizing and moderating a panel on “ Environmental Protection and Public Participation” that will highlight ways the public and environmental groups can utilize environmental information to protect China’s environment. The annual Forum is the largest annual gathering of environmental NGOs in China, with an anticipated 400 participants from … Continue reading 阅读全文 Add comment 发表评论(2)
Environmental Law and Public Participation News
The most interesting news for this week is a report about two lawsuits filed in Shanxi Province. Citizens of a town of 10.904 villagers filed two suits against their own government after they were denied financial information regarding the possibly illegal transfer of shares of the government-owned mine. While the case has only been accepted by a local city’s intermediate court, the ruling will be one of the first judgments issued on the new Open Government Information regulations. In other news, an Anhui Province newspaper carried out a thorough investigation of access to public information, browsing through all the provincial … Continue reading 阅读全文 Add comment 发表评论(0)
China passes law promoting circular economy
The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress passed the Law Promoting a Circular Economy (循环经济促进法) on August 29, 2008. The law, which takes effect on January 1, 2009, joins a series of laws and regulations passed in the last decade that seek to promote cleaner and more efficient economic development in China, including the Energy Conservation Law (passed in 1997 and revised in 2007), the Law Promoting Clean Production (2002), the Renewable Energy Law (2005), and the Administrative Measures for the Recovery of Renewable Resources (2007). The government is also currently considering an umbrella Energy Law and recently passed … Continue reading 阅读全文 Add comment 发表评论(0)
Latest Pew Survey: Chinese are the most satisfied with country’s direction, but concern about the environment is high. Public concern about climate change low in China and the U.S.
A recent survey from the Pew Global Attitudes Project of over 3,000 Chinese people during March and April 2008 showed that, of all nations surveyed, China boasted the highest satisfaction with the “country’s direction” and the “economic situation” in the country. 86% of Chinese people surveyed said they were satisfied with China’s direction. 82% felt the country’s economic situation was good. In contrast, only 23% of Americans, 41% of Indians and 23% of Japanese felt satisfied with their respective countries’ directions. Nonetheless, environmental concerns were near the top of the list of problems that Chinese people are concerned about. 74% … Continue reading 阅读全文 Add comment 发表评论(1)
Environmental Law and Public Participation News
A major focus in recent Chinese news on environmental law and public participation is the arsenic pollution incident at Yangzonghai Lake in Yunnan Province, which has resulted in the contamination of drinking water for over 26,000 people. The information was not released until September 18, 2008, prompting serious discussion within the editorial pages of Chinese newspapers on the importance of open information disclosure and environmental litigation. While all agree environmental challenges must be tackled, there is strong disagreement as to how effective some measures – especially the newly created Environmental Courts – can be. Some of those editorials, along with … Continue reading 阅读全文 Add comment 发表评论(2)
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Environmental Law and Public Participation News
Posted on 2008/10/16 by Michael Zhang
The crisis with the arsenic pollution of Yangzonghai lake continues, with the Yunnan government recently appealing to international experts for assistance, while environmental law advances slowly in the rest of China. With the passage of the Open Government Disclosure Law on May 1, local governments are rapidly moving to implement their own visions. Among the several articles this week are two articles about cities utilizing libraries as a site for government documents and information disclosure. The most interesting news item, however, is a legal case in Hunan Province where one villager’s destruction of factory property in protest of its unaddressed … Continue reading 阅读全文 » Add comment 发表评论(0)