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(Originally published on 11/24/2015)
On 24th November 2015, UNDP China co-organized with the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) an experts’ seminar on special funds for ecological and environmental remediation.
The seminar brought together prominent Chinese experts from the academia, civil society, the judiciary and private sector to discuss public interests and the management of special funds. US expert Jay Pendergrass from the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) in Washington DC shared experiences of remediation efforts in the US and India.
2015 is considered as the first year of Environmental Public Interest Litigation (EPIL) in China, with the new Environmental Protection Law - revised for the first time in 25 years - allowing NGOs to file environmental lawsuits on behalf of the public.
The first half of this year has already witnessed 22 civil public interest lawsuits filed by environmental NGOs, including one case on forest damage in Fujian, the first EPIL case since the revised Environmental Protection Law came into effect and which the court has recently ruled in favor of the plaintiffs.
However, after cases have been won in court by NGOs, there is currently no model governing the establishment, coverage and administration of special funds nor standard operating procedures regulating the clean-up and restoration of the environment.
Speaking at the opening of the workshop, Patrick Haverman, Deputy Country Director of UNDP China, noted that “litigation represents only a means towards a higher end: the restoration of justice, be it through ecological and environmental remediation, compensation for economic loss or harm to human health”.
It is critical at this point of time to reflect on a fund management modality that would best serve the interest of the public and in turn enhance the environmental public interest law system in China. “Funds generated from environmental public interest litigation by definition should serve public interest, which needs to be reflected in the ownership and management of the fund”, noted Professor Wang Canfa, founder and director of the Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims.
It is hoped that the experts’ opinions will ultimately inform a legislative proposal to be submitted at the National People’s Congress and Chinese Political Consultative Conference sessions (CCPCC).
