An environmental group has filed a lawsuit for 30 million yuan (U.S.$4.8 million) to seek compensation from a Shandong chemical company for pumping out harmful substances a legal action thought to be the first public interest litigation for air pollution under China’s new environmental law.On Wednesday, the Intermediate People’s Court in the Shandong city of Dezhou agreed to
China’s environmental protection law, which stirred great controversy during its amendment process, has finally been passed. The updated law makes significant progress in the area of public interest litigation and strengthens the legislative tools to punish polluters. But it fails to answer a key question: how to get local officials to enforce the rules effectively.The
The All-China Environmental Federation (ACEF), a government-backed NGO, is being urged to take legal action against the Shenhua group, one of China’s largest energy companies and also a member of the ACEF.A subsidiary of the Shenhua group in Inner Mongolia has reportedly been discharging industrial wastewater into the Yellow River, threatening the water supply of Baotou
If the law sets a criminal to catch other criminals what do you think those criminals will think? My colleagues have discovered that new legislation threatens to do just that.A new draft revision of the Environmental Protection Law is now online for public comment. The draft names the All-China Environmental Federation (ACEF) and its provincial-level branches as the only