January 24, 2008

Advancing the Rule of Law to Protect China’s Environment

Co-sponsored by the
District of Columbia Vermont Law School Alumni Association

As China’s rapidly growing economy generates pollution and greenhouse gas emissions that are increasingly impacting the rest of the world, improving the country’s environmental legal framework has become an urgent priority. While scholars, policymakers, and regulatory officials in China are interested in learning from the environmental regulatory experiences of the United States and other nations, China’s governmental structure, legal system, and cultural norms, as well as its attributes as a developing nation, seriously complicate efforts to apply the lessons of the American environmental system.

Three impressive panelists joined us for a discussion of some of the challenges to improving enforcement and regulatory effectiveness and options to address these issues. VLS Professor Tseming Yang provided an overview of the challenges to making China’s environmental regulatory system more effective. Professor Jiao Bo of Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU) in Guangzhou, China, discussed the Three Gorges Dam project in the context of China’s legal culture. SYSU Professor Gu Dejin discussed the challenge and options for improving the enforcement of China’s environmental laws.

Panelists:
Tseming Yang, Professor, Vermont Law School
Jiao Bo, Professor, Sun Yat-sen University
Gu Dejin, Professor, Sun Yat-sen University