First public lawsuit against polluters may encourage enforcers to do better

EIGHT COMPANIES ARE REPORTEDLY BEING SUED by the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation for dumping untreated waste in the Tengger Desert between North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region and Northwest China's Gansu province. It is the first public interest litigation filed by a nonprofit organization against the companies involved since their illegal activities were exposed in 2014. Comments:

As some of the enterprises that illegally discharged the polluting waste have said, the worst they had expected is receiving administrative punishments, which just asks them to rectify their actions. The costs of illegal dumping must be increased, so that companies abide by the law. Public interest litigation could be a key way to make the enterprises fully recover the ecological environment they polluted, thus demonstrating that similar misconduct will face severer punishment than expected.

Ma Yong, a researcher working at a law center under the Supreme People's Court's environmental tribunal, Aug 18

Environmental protection litigation in China has always struggled to fulfill its mission, due to the lack of theoretical and legal support. It is still early to presume that this one relating to the Tengger Desert pollution will be successful or not, because the Green Development Foundation is neither a direct victim nor a responsible party in the case. But the legal precedent has the potential to break the ice in environmental protection and make it easier for similar appeals to be heard.

China Youth Daily, Aug 19

Of course, for the two fighters for public interests, filing a litigation is only the first step in their request, which is designed to preserve the local environment, protect it from further dangers, and remedy the environmental damage. In particular, public interest litigation may be able to supervise the incompetent enforcers, even make them fulfill their duties. Whether the latest litigation will be given full play to promote social justice largely depends on how it is adjudicated in court.

Beijing Times, Aug 19

The exposed pollution in the Tengger Desert should play an active role in raising public awareness of public interest litigation. However, the two NGOs have not specified the amount of compensation that will be needed to restore the environment to health, which means their request is a bit abstract. Therefore, it needs efficient implementation of relevant laws to specify the rules for filing such a litigation, including damage assessment and environment recovery costs.

Zhu Xiao, an associate professor of law at Renmin University of China, Aug 18