Environmental contestation in China: Motives and impact

Environmental legislation in China prescribes Public Participation in Environmental Impact Assessment to be arranged by the initiator of a project. Nevertheless concerns of effected citizens are often neglected and not addressed in the impact studies. The rising public environmental awareness and realization of health risks related to the proposed activity can lead to outbreaks of public protests and mass events, which may result in cancellation of such projects. In this paper some recent cases of contestation in China are presented and their impact on environmental decision-making analysed. It shows that the Chinese public does have an impact on policy making and stimulates the government to sharpen environmental regulation and procedures.Policy Analysi