Public Interest and Private Actors: Environmental Public Interest Litigation in China
Wednesday, September 22, 2021
9:00 AM - 10:30 AM (Eastern Daylight Time)

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About the event

Environmental governance in China is highly dependent on government actors and actions. But after decades of prioritizing rapid economic development over environmental conservation, the state-centered approach has shown signs of fatigue. Economic growth is self-limited if the environment collapses. In 2015, the government gave private actors a new role in environmental law enforcement by giving civil society organizations the legal standing to sue polluters in the public interest. Dr. Hao Zhuang will share her research about Chinese NGOs’ contributions to environmental governance, including as laboratories for legal theories and practices.

About the speaker

Dr. Hao Zhuang is a visiting fellow at Cornell University researching China’s environmental governance, civil society organizations, and private enforcement of environmental laws. For nearly 20 years, Dr. Zhuang has worked at international conservation organizations and Chinese civil society organizations as a senior manager or consultant. She holds a PhD in natural resources from Cornell University and bachelor’s degree in economics from the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. Her publications include “EPiL – New roles for Civil Society Organizations in Environmental Governance in China” in the Journal of Environmental Sociology, and a forthcoming article titled: “Nongovernmental Organizations as Agents of Change in China’s Environmental Governance: Opportunity or Serendipity?”