You may have heard of Hu Jia, an environmental activist in China that was arrested by the country?s government for his environmental activism and political dissent. Many other people are often punished for their individual activism when they pose a threat to social order.

Further obstacles exist at the grassroots level. Many environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are not permitted to fundraise until the go through a lengthy and grueling registration process with the Chinese government that is often enough to weed out many potentially beneficial organizations.

However, because environmental NGOS play a critical role in advancing government transparency, rule of law, and accountability regarding environmental policy and the larger political system, it is interesting to examine the history behind the Chinese environmental movement to better understand its current situation and the future of the movement in the country.

You can read about China history of environmental activism in detail here: http://www.harvard-yenching.org/sites/harvard-yenching.org/files/featurefiles/WU%20Fengshi_Environmental%20Civil%20Society%20in%20China2.pdf

Here are some of the main points that I got from this article: http://www.cfr.org/china/chinas-environmental-movement/p7770

1) The Chinese government generally has a positive attitude toward environmental NGOS, because they fill a gap the government ability to protect the environment. Still, Beijing continues to regulate the NGOs through various laws, war that increasing enviornmental activism will spur social protests in other areas as well.

2) On the National Level, China?s State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) is a strong supporter of NGOs, and works very closely with them— both publicly and behind the scenes— to achieve common goals. At the local level, however, some environmental protection bureaus remain wary of NGO activity, fearing the organizations will expose their substandard performance.

Broadly, the main focuses and targeted areas for the environmental movement in China, in no particular order are

a) Environmental education

b) Biodiversity protection

c) Energy conversation and efficiency

d) Air and water pollution

e) Large-scale dams and hydropower projects like the Nine Gorges Dam

3) In recent times, there have been several notable environmental activists in China. Some include Ma Jun and his Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs in Beijing. The organization has done pollution mapping work in China and created a network of environmental activists called the ?Green Choice Alliance.? The Institute was critical in the initial reports that exposed links between Apple and its suppliers? environmental and health record in factories across the nation.

China Dialogue is a great resource for streaming environment-related news in English and Chinese.

In general, China?s environmental activists tend to be educated, articulate, and familiar with media or television, which may be invaluable in raising awareness of environmental issues within the Chinese government and throughout the country. Many leaders have experience abroad as well, particularly in the United States either at universities or training with various U.S.-based environmental NGOs, and many are based in Beijing.

Read about the future of NGO activists here:

http://www.climate.org/topics/international-action/chinese-environmental-action.html

More sources:

http://www.worldwatch.org/environmental-activist-arrested-hangzhou-movement-still-hampered-legal-and-financial-restrictions

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http://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/the-pollution-crisis-and-environmental-activism-in-china-a-qa-with-anthropologist-ralph-litzinger