Presented by:

Nigel Lo & Joshua Leslie

3rd May 2012

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW IN CHINA

To introduce the basic concept of global warming.To introduce the definition of pollution.To identify mass health risk to Chinese population.To be able to identify China’s flawed legal system

in the enforcement of environmental laws.Introduce Chinese NGO Movements and their

struggles with the government.To discuss how lack of enforcement results in

further pollution.To discuss the Australian environmental protection

laws and there potential benefit to China.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Global warming is the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans since the late 19th century and its projected continuation. Since the early 20th century, Earth's average surface temperature has increased by about 0.8 °C (1.4 °F), with about two thirds of the increase occurring since 1980.

America's Climate Choices. Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press. 2011. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-309-14585-5.

http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12781&page=1"

GLOBAL WARMING pg 1

An increase in global temperature will cause sea levels to rise and will change the amount and pattern of precipitation, and a probable expansion of subtropical deserts. Warming is expected to be strongest in the Arctic and would be associated with continuing retreat of glaciers, permafrost and sea ice.

Other likely effects of the warming include more frequent occurrence of extreme-weather events including heat waves, droughts and heavy rainfall, species extinctions due to shifting temperature regimes, and changes in crop yields. Warming and related changes will vary from region to region around the globe, with projections being more robust in some areas than others.

Lu, Jian; Vechhi, Gabriel A.; Reichler, Thomas (2007). "Expansion of the Hadley cell under global warming" (PDF). Geophysical Research Letters 34 (6): L06805. Bib code 2007GeoRL..3406805L. doi:10.1029/2006GL028443. http://www.atmos.berkeley.edu/~jchiang/Class/Spr07/Geog257/Week10/Lu_Hadley06.pdf. 

Solomon et al., Technical Summary, Section TS.5.3: Regional-Scale Projections, in IPCC AR4 WG1 2007.

GLOBAL WARMING pg 2

GLOBAL WARMING

http://www.businesslobby.net/Blogs/GlobalWarmingEffectsonBusiness.aspx

THE INCONVINIENT TRUTH

Air pollution occurs when the air contains gases, dust, fumes or odour in harmful amounts. That is, amounts which could be harmful to the health or comfort of humans and animals or which could cause damage to plants and materials. The substances that cause air pollution are called pollutants. Pollutants that are pumped into our atmosphere and directly pollute the air are called primary pollutants. Primary pollutant examples include carbon monoxide from car exhausts and sulphur dioxide from the combustion of coal.

Air Quality For Kids Official Website: http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/air/aq4kids/pollution.asp

AIR POLLUTION

Air pollution will become the biggest health threat in China unless the government takes greater steps to monitor and publicise the dangers of smog, the country's leading respiratory disease specialist warned this week.

Lung cancer and cardiovascular illnesses are already rising and could get worse in the future because of factory emissions, vehicle exhausts and cigarette smoke, Dr Zhong Nanshan, the president of the China Medical Association, told the Guardian.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/mar/16/air-pollution-biggest threat-china

CHINA’s AIR POLLUTION

China's environmental protection ministry published a report in November 2010 which showed that about a third of 113 cities surveyed failed to meet national air standards last year. According to the World Bank 16 of the world’s 20 cities with the worst air are in China. According to Chinese government sources, about a fifth of urban Chinese breath heavily polluted air. Many places smell like high-sulphur coal and leaded gasoline. Only a third of the 340 Chinese cities that are monitored meet China’s own pollution standards.

CHINA’s AIR POLLUTION

http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=392&catid=10&subcatid=66

http://www.integracore.com/blog/distributionandfulfillment/air-pollution-in-china-still-an-issue/

CHINA’s AIR POLLUTION

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=economic-crisis-china-pollution

MASS HEALTH RISK

Overview of Waterborne Disease Trends By Patricia L. Reinhardt, MD, MPH, MA, Author. Retrieved on April 30, 2012 http//: waterhealthconnection.org

It is fairly well known that China has actually enacted some pretty strict laws trying to stop that degradation, in fact some are stricter than in the United States. The effectiveness of those laws is, in the words of Peking University's law professor Wang Jin writing in China Dialogue bluntly "useless". Here's why:

Environmental Laws Riddled With Holes

According to Wang Jin there are three main reasons why China's environmental laws have failed:

1) The basic legal system is incomplete; 2) The laws that have been enacted aren't particularly well crafted; 3) The overall aims of a law often contradict the articles of the law.

http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/why-chinas-environmental-laws-have-been-useless-in-stopping-pollution.html

CHINA’s ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS

In May 2010, the government of Guzhen county, in the eastern province of Anhui, removed six local environmental-protection officials - including the bureau chief - from their posts. They had checked up on one firm three times within a 20 day period, a move the government claimed was damaging efforts to attract investment. A local Anhui province law requires environmental authorities to obtain approval before making checks. Other places are following suit, with the result that the biggest polluters and energy consumers are being protected by local government.

http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/why-chinas-environmental-laws-have-been-useless-in-stopping-pollution.html

AN EXAMPLE OR A FLAWED LEGAL SYSTEM

In May of 2007, students and professors at Xiamen University sent out a million text messages urging citizens to protest the planned construction of a $1.4 billion petrochemical plant nearby. On June 1st, 2007, between 7,000 and 20,000 people marched through the city, despite threats of expulsion from school or from the CCP. The event was even videotaped and uploaded onto YouTube, which prompted a response by city authorities who launched their own campaign to discredit the protesters and the video. Nonetheless, this public demonstration is evidence that the Chinese people are starting to take action and are no longer waiting for the government to respond to the environmental issues.

NGO leaders in China tend to be educated individuals who have spent time abroad and have received training with various U.S.-based environmental NGOs. While many Chinese NGOs are based in Beijing, they also work throughout the country to address local concerns. In addition, the active participation of college students in the ecological involvement has been vital, as demonstrated in 2004 when 100,000 Chinese college students from 22 provinces participated in environmental activities on Earth Day.

Xu, Christine (2008) China: Locals Turn to Environmental Activism , http://www.climate.org/topics/international-action/chinese-environmental-action.html

CHINA’s ENVIROMENTAL ACTIVISM

China’s State Environmental Protection Administration generally works very closely with environmental NGOs. Environmental NGOs agitated for SEPA to be included in the Go West campaign leading group, supported the call for a green Olympics, worked with SEPA on an energy efficiency campaign, and serve as SEPA’s eyes and ears at the local level. Even on the most sensitive political issues such as dam construction, there is a strong alliance between NGOs and SEPA. The decision in late January 2005 by SEPA Vice Director Pan Yue (with the support of Premier Wen Jiabao and the State Council) to bring to a halt 30 large infrastructure projects including 26 power-related projects on the grounds that environmental impact assessments were not properly completed suggests strong support within the top reaches of Beijing for NGO activity in this realm. These projects however, also speak to other central government priorities such as enforcing the rule of law and slowing large-scale investment.

NGO RELATION WITH GOVERNMENT

Until the Chinese government removes its restrictions on NGO registration and otherwise supports the development of civil society, the environmental movement may remain limited in size, as well as forced to operate under the shadow of knowledge that political caprice or shifting political winds could force them to pull back from their efforts, or risk being shut down entirely.

C, Elizabeth (2005): China’s Environmental Movements, Council On Foreign Relations: http://www.cfr.org/china/chinas-environmental-movement/p7770

RESTRICTIONS ON NGO MOVEMENTS

Legislative FrameworkOut of Date Standards

China’s environmental standards can also, inadvertently, cause harm. China currently has 20 standards for atmospheric pollution, compared to 187 in the United States. So during the 2008 Olympics, when reporters complained about Beijing’s poor air quality, China proudly retorted that it had met its standards. How could this be? China does not, for example, have a standard for particulate matter of 2.5 nanometres or less – and if you don’t have a standard, you can’t breach it. This is an obvious flaw.

W, Jin (2010): China’s green laws are useless: http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/3831

WHY IS CHINA SO POLLUTED?

Legislative FrameworkContradicting Legislation

There are limits on the release of pollution, but businesses are allowed to exceed those limits if they pay a fee. In spite of the law being tightened, such breaches happen all the time, and in order to collect the ensuing fines – and thereby fulfil this aspect of their duties – environmental-protection officials allow the situation to continue.

The Legislation isn’t sufficient

W, Jin (2010): China’s green laws are useless: http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/3831

WHY IS CHINA SO POLLUTED?

EnforcementProfessionalism

The teams that carry out regulations and their facilities are out of date;

The power to regulate and monitor the pollution is inadequate;

PublicCommunity support;Education;

Foreign InvestmentIncentives‘Pollution Haven’

Judith Dean, ‘Are foreign investors attracted to weak environmental regulations? Evaluating the evidence from China’ (2009) Journal of Development Economics 90 1–13

WHY IS CHINA SO POLLUTED?

Pollution TaxIncentives for recovery

Regulation costs v tax benefits

Doesn’t apply to all pollutionCarbon Dioxide

WHY IS CHINA SO POLLUTED?

Pan Yue, Deputy Minister of Ministry of Environmental Protection

our mode of economic modernisation has been copied from western, developed nations. In 30 years, China has achieved economic results that took a century to attain in the west. But we have also concentrated a century’s worth of environmental issues into those 30 years. While becoming the world leader in GDP growth and foreign investment, we have also become the world’s number one consumer of coal, oil and steel – and the largest producer of CO2 and chemical oxygen demand (COD) emissions

Pan Yue, (2006) ‘“The rich consume and the poor suffer the pollution”

ECONOMIC GROWTH

ECONOMIC GROWTH

LegislationQuantityQuality

Zoning laws

ACEDPAustralia China Environment Development

Partnership

AUSTRALIAN ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS

Government systemCommunism v Democracy

Culture and Public AspectPublic OpinionProtests

Worldwide SanctionsWHOKyoto Protocol

AUSTRALIAN ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS

America's Climate Choices. Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press. 2011. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-309-14585-5.

http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12781&page=1

Lu, Jian; Vechhi, Gabriel A.; Reichler, Thomas (2007). "Expansion of the Hadley cell under global warming" (PDF). Geophysical Research Letters 34 (6): L06805. Bib code 2007GeoRL..3406805L. doi:10.1029/2006GL028443. http://www.atmos.berkeley.edu/~jchiang/Class/Spr07/Geog257/Week10/Lu_Hadley06.pdf. 

Solomon et al., Technical Summary, Section TS.5.3: Regional-Scale Projections, in IPCC AR4 WG1 2007.

http://www.businesslobby.net/Blogs/GlobalWarmingEffectsonBusiness.aspx

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/mar/16/air-pollution-biggest threat-china

http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=392&catid=10&subcatid=66

http://www.integracore.com/blog/distributionandfulfillment/air-pollution-in-china-still-an-issue/

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=economic-crisis-china-pollution

Overview of Waterborne Disease Trends By Patricia L. Reinhardt, MD, MPH, MA, Author. Retrieved on April 30, 2012 http//: waterhealthconnection.org

http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/why-chinas-environmental-laws-have-been-useless-in-stopping-pollution.html

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY pg 2

Xu, Christine (2008) China: Locals Turn to Environmental Activism , http://www.climate.org/topics/international-action/chinese-environmental-action.html

C, Elizabeth (2005): China’s Environmental Movements, Council On Foreign Relations: http://www.cfr.org/china/chinas-environmental-movement/p7770

W, Jin (2010): China’s green laws are useless: http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/3831

Judith Dean, ‘Are foreign investors attracted to weak environmental regulations? Evaluating the evidence from China’ (2009) Journal of Development Economics 90 1–13

Pan Yue, (2006) ‘“The rich consume and the poor suffer the pollution”