Bottom-Up Pollution Action in China

The Chinese government’s war on pollution to combat smoggy cities and black (or purple) water has resulted in more aggressive regulations, fines, and pressure on local officials. At the same time, this top-down approach has also opened up more opportunities for grassroots groups and citizens to take greater part in pollution monitoring, information transparency, and lawsuits. Join CEF on November 3, 2016 for a conversation on the successes and challenges facing Chinese environmental NGO campaigns and citizen legal efforts to halt pollution and protect natural resources.

Sun Cheng will showcase how the grassroots NGO Green Hunan has built up an extensive network of volunteers to track and pressure polluters in four of the province’s river basins. Green Hunan and its volunteers have creatively used social media and citizen science to mobilize communities and prompt local government action.  Lei Chen Wong will discuss how Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots program has created extensive university student campaigns to monitor and clean up polluted areas, in combination with changing public opinions on ivory and shark fin soup consumption. Zhang Jingjing will highlight the new ground that Chinese lawyers and citizens are breaking in public interest pollution law suits.

Chair:

Jennifer Turner, Director, China Environment Forum