Last Friday, I conducted an interview with Professor Qian of the School of the Environment, Nanjing University. He introduced me to a term I hadn't been familiar with previously: 生态补偿机制, translated as "eco-compensation mechanism". This seems to be a term used primarily in China, refering to the institutional allocation of the costs and benefits associated with environmental degradation, primarily through economic means. In short, the people who pollute upstream pay the people downstream who have to deal with the polluted water, compensating them for their losses. It's an environmental economist's favorite concept, and I was excited to hear Professor Qian bring it up when I asked who bears the cost of pollution control in China. However, he emphasized that these eco-compensation mechanisms are by no means widespread in China. For the most part, he said, people rely on the government. It gives me the image of little toddler manufacturers spilling whatever they want all over the kitchen floor and Mama Government coming through with a mop to clean it up. I know the issue is more complicated (Mama Government really likes the towers of flour paste and graham crackers the toddlers make, for one thing), but there really does seem to be some questionable parenting of industry taking place in China. I asked Professor Qian, could this change? Yes, he said. Slowly.
2009/11/13
2009/11/05
Announcing China Green News
China Green News
The above link takes you to a newly-launched English-language website that brings you translated environmental news from Chinese sources. The site is run by Green Earth Volunteers, one of China's indigenous environmental NGOs. Founded in 1996, the NGO is based in Beijing.
I'm excited about this website not only because it is a valuable new resource for the English-speaking environmental research community in China, but also because I volunteer as a translation proofreader. I'm a small part of a huge effort that goes forth selecting, translating, and proofreading these articles.
Hopefully, as this site develops, it will become an increasingly useful resource for all of us out there who still read English about 1,000 times faster than we read Chinese.
The above link takes you to a newly-launched English-language website that brings you translated environmental news from Chinese sources. The site is run by Green Earth Volunteers, one of China's indigenous environmental NGOs. Founded in 1996, the NGO is based in Beijing.
I'm excited about this website not only because it is a valuable new resource for the English-speaking environmental research community in China, but also because I volunteer as a translation proofreader. I'm a small part of a huge effort that goes forth selecting, translating, and proofreading these articles.
Hopefully, as this site develops, it will become an increasingly useful resource for all of us out there who still read English about 1,000 times faster than we read Chinese.
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