China Real Time Report just put up an excellent post by Professor Stanley Lubman on the state of the environmental laws and enforcement in China. Entitled, “Strengthening Enforcement of China’s Environmental Protection Laws,” its first and last paragraphs nicely summarize the post itself:
In the face of ongoing serious damage to China’s environment caused by 30 years of historic economic development and weak enforcement of China’s environmental protection laws, environmental litigation is growing and a small number of experimental environmental courts have been established. The growth of rights consciousness and citizen concern about the dangers of uncontrolled pollution has also stimulated suits against polluters brought both by citizens and public interest environmental NGOs.
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As is the case with law reform in general, much depends on the political will of both central and local governments, in this case to encourage the development of environmental courts and the exercise of judicial discretion to meet the challenges of limiting China’s environmental degradation.
If you want to know what is happening in China’s courts with respect to the environment, Professor Lubman’s post is a must-read.
UPDATE: For a grittier perspective (pun intended) on China’s environment, check out Peter Foster’s post, entitled, “Beijing sandstorm: we are experiencing environmental meltdown.”
