Nature Alert: Chinese companies to be held liable for environmental damage caused overseas

Saturday, 25 July 2009

Chinese companies to be held liable for environmental damage caused overseas

mongabay.com
July 23, 2009

Chinese companies operating overseas may soon be held responsible for damage caused in their host countries, reports China state media.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) and the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) have drafted a set of regulations that will apply to all Chinese companies operating abroad. Chinese companies will be required to comply with environmental laws of China and the host country. In cases where Chinese standards are higher than those of the host country, the stronger regulations would apply, according to Zhi Yingbiao, a program officer from the Global Environmental Institution (GEI), a non-governmental organization and co-designer of the guidelines.

The regulations include safeguards against pollution and require Chinese companies to provide compensation for environmental damages caused by projects. China Daily did not indicate how compensation would be determined.

The environment code is now awaiting approval from authorities, which could come shortly, according to Ge Chazong, a researcher with the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning who helped design the rules.

The new regulations—provided they are enforced—could boost the reputation of Chinese firms as they seek opportunities to develop projects overseas. Direct foreign investment by China rose from $3.6 billion in 2004 to 40.7 billion last year. Much of the money is going into energy, infrastructure, forestry, and agriculture projects in poor countries but green groups say Chinese companies currently have a poor environmental record in developing projects in ecologically sensitive areas.

It is not the first time China has issued such guidelines. Threes years ago China announced a draft sustainable forestry handbook for Chinese companies operating overseas. The guidelines called for a ban on illegal logging and clearing of natural forests for plantations. The manual was distributed in 2007 distributed to China's 31 provinces, its forestry department, and various industry groups, but it is unclear whether the rules were ever put into force.

Li Jing. Green rules eye Chinese firms abroad. China Daily. 2009-05-29

http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0723-china_rules.html

Hall of Shame for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Palm Oil Industry.

Nothing can prepare one for the sight of the systematic extermination of orangutans by the government of Indonesia.

Look at the photos and news articles on these pages in the context of a statement the President made to the media on 10th December 2007.

“In the last 35 years about 50,000 orangutans are estimated to have been lost as their habitats shrank. If this continues, this majestic creature will likely face extinction by 2050,” President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at the launch of an orangutan conservation plan at the climate talks in Bali.

“The fate of the orangutan is a subject that goes to the heart of sustainable forests … To save the orangutan we have to save the forest.”

Statements like these are most welcome, but unless backed up by action, such words fall on deaf ears within the Ministry of Forestry....who are busy granting licences to cut down the very forests the President says they should protect!

When you think you are to busy to help, please could you reflect for a moment on .........

The following extract refers to environmental problems in general. I just hope you find it as thought provoking and relevant to orangutans as I have.

"This is such a shocking and unpalatable fact that most people deny it, or they just don't want to think about it. They believe as individuals, they can do little about it, so push it to the back of their minds. But I can't do that.

When something has to be done, we need to do it. It doesn't matter how big the challenge is or how hard the solution; if I know something is wrong, and I am in a position to help, I will do my best to make it right." Duncan Bannatyne, successful British businessman.