Since "reform and opening" began 30 years ago, the Chinese economy has developed at an unprecedented rate.  The rapid pace of economic development has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, but it has also put a tremendous amount of strain on the natural environment in China.  Founded in 1998 by its current leader Professor Wang Canfa, the Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims (CLAPV) at the China University of Political Science & Law in Beijing is arguably the most important environmental NGO in China today.  CLAPV has been running a hotline for pollution victims since 1999.

CLAPV runs a bi-lingual English/Chinese website (See http://www.clapv.org/new/en/index.html and http://www.clapv.org/new/index.php respectively) that serves as the organizations primary contact point with its international partners, concerned citizens and domestic pollution victims.  The GE Foundation-funded Opportunity Fund Program "Defending Environmental Justice by Disclosing Information on Environmental Rights Protection" is in the process of updating and improving CLAPV's website.  This Program creates a dynamic forum that helps pollution victims and leaders from a variety of disciplines including the sciences, business, government, law, health, engineering and civil society NGOs to connect to each other and connect to information that will help protect the health and environmental rights of the Chinese people.

Activities   

The Program helps victims and those who seek redress with and for them through the following:

• A database that includes hundreds of the environmental lawyers that will allow pollution victims to easily locate lawyers who will support them in defending their rights
• A blog that will pollution victims to have their questions answered by lawyers, public health professionals and others and allow these professionals to share best-practices
• A database of environmental cases from China and other countries that will serve as a resource for victims and lawyers alike
• A database on environmental law that will serve as a resources for Chinese environmental lawyers.

• Published news about the protection of environmental rights in China and abroad

• Convening of meetings that bring together environmental lawyers, judges, legal scholars, doctors and scientists from China and abroad to discuss the best ways to protect the environmental rights of Chinese citizens.

Outcomes

The updated website will be more user friendly than it is currently and will include several new features.  Specifically, the updated website and database created through the Program will:

• Create a blog that will allow pollution victims, lawyers and representatives of NGOs ask questions, make connections and find information.
• Provide extensive information regarding the legal rights of pollution victims and examples of these rights through a database of past legal cases
• Increase the number of lawyers capable of handling pollution cases through its downloadable tutorials, blog and databases
• Include forms for pollution victims to fill-out that will send their potential case to the appropriate member of CLAPV
• Help pollution victims connect with lawyers who are able to assist them
• Attract more users than the current site

Replicability

The center has already worked with more than 300 lawyers on environmental cases throughout China.  As part of the project, an online database of all 300 lawyers will be accessible to anyone who visits the website.  These lawyers will also be able to introduce themselves to potential clients through a blog that will also be created through this project. Creating a resource for pollution victims that includes this core group of 300 lawyers who are dispersed throughout China will make it easier for pollution victims to seek redress and justice.

The downloadable materials, including all of the environmental law cases in China and a tutorial regarding the practice of environmental law, will allow other lawyers to train themselves in the intricacies of Chinese environmental law.  By using the blog and the contact information for the environmental lawyers found on the site, this project and database will allow for an expansion in the number of lawyers with the expertise and passion needed to represent pollution victims on a pro bono basis. 

Crucially, the blog and the revamped website will serve as a resource for pollution victims and those other than lawyers, such as public health professionals and doctors, to work with pollution victims.  By bringing together a multidisciplinary group of professionals committed to helping pollution victims, this project will have an immediate impact.  By expanding the community of professionals committed to protecting environmental rights, this project will be a self-propelling force for equity and justice in China.