Wang Canfa, a prominent environmental lawyer and activist, spoke at an event at the World Resources Institute, an environmental think tank in Washington, D.C. on how the lack of enforcement of environmental law is creating a new class of “pollution victims” across China. As demonstrated in a video presentation, villagers touching highly-polluted river water will often quickly develop blisters on their hands and feet. Wang also discussed the state of environmental law in China, and obstacles to better enforcement. Wang is head of the Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims, and Professor, China University of Politics and Law.
According to Wang Canfa, 50 percent of China’s waterways aren’t fit for human use in any form. Other key statistics: China produces 25 billion tons of sulfur dioxide (S02) per year, twice the amount stipulated as acceptable by Chinese law; China creates 15.2 billion tons of solid waste per year; 10 million acres of farmland are polluted each year (costing 20 billion RMB in damages); 1.3 million acres of farmland are, in turn, lost to productive uses per year. Also, Wang outlined how “red tides,” rare outbreaks of water pollution, happened about 20 times during the 1990′s, but occured more than 119 times in 2003 alone. China has also experienced huge losses of grassland due to desertification, and increased pollution of groundwater resources. Electronic waste shipped from Hong Kong, and other parts of Asia, often ends up in Southern China, creating fields of electronic waste that leak chemicals, which then filter into groundwater.
Wang said China already has the environmental laws in place — a host of new laws have been enacted, as well as regulations to enforce these laws. The issue is enforcement and local capacity. He outlined a few of the complex, inter-connected institutional, economic, and other barriers, to improving environmental protection enforcement, many of which occur at the local level:
Institutional barriers: China has a highly centralized form of governance which often creates perverse incentives. For instance, the promotion of lower-level officials is determined by officials in higher levels of government. Central government officials select provincial officials for promotion, and so on, on down. Given communities have little say in evaluating how local officials perform on environmental protection, a disconnect arises between local progress and local officials’ career success.
Wang argued that the promotion criteria needs to be changed for local economic development officials. Positive environmental impact needs to become part of the criteria for success. This will, in turn, let existing instutional mechanisms, such as environmental impact assessments, which under law must be conducted for new developments, begin to guide economic development decisions. Public participation needs to be built into local institutions’ economic and environmental decision-making process more broadly. Furthermore, China’s environmental protection agency (SEPA) needs more local offices, and stronger support from the central government.
Economic barriers: China is still placing a priority on economic growth above all else. As a result, environmental damages haven’t been included in the true cost of economic development. Wang argued that the cost of compliance with environmental regulations is still far more than the fines and fees required for breaking the law.
Wang contends environmental protection regulatory bodies need to be given a greater ability to shape local economic development decisions — local economic growth can’t come first. Also, in terms of the economic cost-benefit analysis of pollution, fees / fines need to dramatically increased for firms to comply with pollution rules. Also, fee / fines collection should be separated from revenue-generating in environmental protection agencies to reduce the incentive to fine, as oppose to simply close polluting firms. To support this, environmental agencies’ budgets need to be guaranteed by the central government.
Wang also outlined legal, judicial, social, and cultural obstacles to better enforcement of environmental rules in China.
Read more about Wang Canfa, a Time magazine “Hero of the Environment”, and his Center for Legal Assistance for Pollution Victims.
Image credit: E-Waste Guide
