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Experience with public interest litigations
Public participation

The public and individuals as participants of environmental protection under the Environmental Protection Law of the People's Republic of China

Obligation of individuals to protect the environment
- All units and individuals shall have the obligation to protect the environment and shall have the right to report on or file charges against units or individuals that cause pollution or damage to the environment as provided by Article 6 of the Environmental Protection Law of the People's Republic of China. Then Article 8 encourages the people's government to give awards to units and individuals that have made outstanding achievements in protecting and improving the environment.

The role of media in providing information on environmental violation
1. Nowadays, in China the media plays a positive role in revealing environmental violation, informing the public, reporting pollution accidents and thus influencing the business behaviors and governmental decisions.

Roles of public and NGOs in environmental problems
2. In China there are few environmental NGOs, for political reasons and low environmental awareness. The public and NGOs played minor roles in environmental governance. For recent years, frequent incidences of pollution accidents and their damages to the public health have aroused public concerns on environmental problems which are closely linked to their health and living, such as noise, air and water pollution. Victims complained about degraded environmental quality, informed local government against pollution discharge and a few even brought suits against polluters. Despite all those active roles of the public, organized civil protest has not developed in China.