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**UPDATE: We're thrilled to have launched a brand-new website! Check it out here: https://www.environmentchinapodcast.com/.

Environment China is a weekly bilingual podcast from the Beijing Energy Network. The show features conversations with advocates, entrepreneurs, and experts working in the environmental field in China.  We are looking to learn how they do their work, what new strategies and solutions they have found, and why now is the right time for real and positive changes in China’s environmental field.

If you like Environment China, you can subscribe on iTunes here, as well as on other podcast apps, such as Stitcher and Overcast. We also invite you to subscribe to our feed on libsyn here. And if you really like Environment China, you can leave us a comment on iTunes — we really appreciate your support!

Listen to the latest episodes below!

Jul 13, 2017

Lawsuits. If you've seen the films Erin Brockovich or A Civil Action, you're probably familiar with the concept of environmental public interest litigation. In the U.S. and other countries, the birth of environmental laws barely preceded the advent of environmental NGOs, who began suing to make sure those laws were enforced. Because of differences in China's laws and legal system, though, public interest suits have traditionally played little role in environmental enforcement in China.

But this situation is starting to change: recent amendments to China's Environmental Protection Law grant standing to NGOs meeting certain qualifications to raise environmental public interest suits. We’re thrilled to have sat down with Ma Rongzhen, a public interest lawyer at China’s oldest grassroots environmental NGO, Friends of Nature, to discuss the progress and potential for public interest suits to play a greater role in protecting China’s environment. If you're interested in reading more, check out FON's website (Chinese), where you can subscribe to their regular e-newsletter updates on the latest progress for environmental public interest suits raised by FON.