Environmental public interest litigation: new roles for civil society organizations in environmental governance in China

ABSTRACT

In 2015, the Government of China enacted Environmental Public-Interest Litigation (EPiL) as an amendment to its revised Environmental Protection Law. This policy granted civil organizations standing in court to represent public interests applied to environmental values. Based on a review of EPiL developments since 2015 and a case study focused on soil pollution litigation pursued by a leading environmental non-governmental organization (NGO), this paper analyzes the contemporary dynamics of Chinese environmental governance and strategies through which NGOs are leveraging EPiL to advance policy change. Through critical engagement with the concepts of experimentalist governance, this paper highlights the complex pathways through which empowerment of civil society organizations produced policy shifts. Rather than focusing on information and learning derived from purposive experimentation, this study highlights how entrance of new actors introduced practical knowledge and new values that catalyzed an array of changes in governance arrangements. While the metaphor of experimentation suggests a system that is well understood and subject to controls, we identify substantial indeterminacy and openness in governance.

KEYWORDS:

• Environmental public interest litigation
• environmental governance
• policy learning
• NGO
• China

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Data from 2019 represents the latest available data as data from previous year is usually published in May of the following year by the government.

2. The Most Influential Litigation Cases is an annual nomination to serve as legal precedent, co-organized by The China Law Society, The Supreme Court of China, the Southern Weekly, and Law Press China. The report on the selection process can be found at http://www.infzm.com/contents/145299 (Chinese).

3. In China, land transfer transactions shall be administered by land reserving institutions. The Changzhou City Land Reservation Center is the authorized party in our case, representing the local government’s land acquisition.

4. This process began in 1988, transforming parts of state-owned enterprises into non-state-owned enterprises.See http://french.china.org.cn/english/2003chinamarket/79517.htm.

5. Suckermouth catfish eat algae and consume large quantities of phosphorus, a key element at the base of the food chain. When introduced into a water body, the catfish moves quickly to meet this nutritional requirement. which forces other species in the system to increase their level of activity in order to adapt and satisfy their own requirements.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hao Zhuang

Hao Zhuang studies environmental governance and received her PhD from Cornell University. Her research focuses on the development of civil organizations, environmental governance in the context of China, and environmental law enforcement through private actors. Before her PhD study at Cornell, Hao has worked as a conservation professional with IUCN, TNC, FFI and Winrock International since 1999.  Hao is also an institutional and technical consultant with multiple international organizations to implement international aids funded programs in environmental conservation and development field.

Steven A. Wolf

Steven Wolf studies environmental governance at Cornell University. His research aims to advance a co-evolutionary analysis of institutions and environment. This works involves critical engagement with state, market, civil-society, and hybrid governance arrangements. Prior to coming to Cornell, Steven conducted research at Imperial College, London, Univ. of California-Berkeley, INRA-Toulouse, and University of Wisconsin-Madison. Steven is currently President of RC40, Research Committee on Sociology of Agriculture and Food, International Sociological Association.