China's Emerging Environmental Awareness

China bashers may scoff, but the PRC is beginning to take environmentalism seriously. Remember it took us decades to develop an environmental conscience and we still have a long way to go. In comparison the advance of environmental thinking in China is moving ahead at breakneck speed. This is happening with the formation of citizen action groups (both governmentally and non-governmentally sponsored), the development of a legal framework to litigate environmentally oriented lawsuits, a new interest in greening the economy by industrial enterprises and government oversight of environmental issues and concerns a la our EPA.

Some examples follow:

BEIJING, Dec. 18, 2009 (AP) -- An environmental group backed by the government said Friday it had won two lawsuits on behalf of residents threatened by pollution, marking the first time such an organization has been allowed to file a public interest case. (read more…)

BEIJING, Dec. 31, 2009 (UPI) -- With the world's highest level of greenhouse gas emissions and the largest market in the world by floor space, building "green" is becoming the architectural trend in China. (read more…)

BEIJING, Dec. 29, 2009 (Xinhua) -- China is speeding up construction of a system for environmental management to handle emergent environmental incidents, an official said on Tuesday. (read more…)

BEIJING, Dec 31, 2009 (WSJ) -- Chinese entrepreneurs and private citizens are starting to become more active in trying to address concerns over global warming, a nascent trend that could have significant long-term impact on the ability of the world's largest greenhouse-gas emitter to curb its effects on the climate. The shift is most pronounced among a small-but-growing group of private business executives, who are adjusting their business practices and helping to spread awareness more broadly among the public. (read more…)

Beijing, Dec. 9, 2009 (Bloomberg) -- Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- China, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, set new environmental and power standards for steelmakers and threatened closures to curb pollution and overcapacity. (read more…)

There are many more examples that could be cited, but the above articles convey the gist of what is happening. As China gears up its economy to advance alternative fuel consumption and energy conservation let's hope it becomes part of the solution to global environmental degradation rather than part of the problem.