Archives of Peking University News - PKU English - 北京大学

北京大学英语新闻网/Peking University News
College Students Strive for
Environmental Protection
PKU NEWS 2004—03—27
http://ennews.pku.edu.cn/news.php?s=81215038
Beijing, Mar.27th, 2004: One hundred thousand Chinese students took part in
various activities Saturday as volunteers to promote environmental protection and
ecological conservation throughout the country.
They gathered, mostly in environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in
22 cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, and 19 provinces and autonomous regions
from southeastern Fujian to northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,
according to the organizer, China Environmental Culture Promotion Society, a
non-profit organization sponsored by the State Environment Protection
Administration (SEPA). The students planted trees, collected trash in the sea, and
called for quick action to save water and protect wetlands.
Despite being the world's fastest growing economy, China is "not on track in
reversing the loss of its environmental resources", said the "Millennium Development
Goals: China's Progress", a report released by the United Nations Thursday in
Beijing.
"I believe NGOs will surely play a key role in China's environmental protection,
because the government cannot do everything. However, they need coordination,
training and support," said Pan Yue, vice-director of SEPA and an advocate of public
participation in environmental campaigns. He said SEPA will help to establish an
NGO cooperation network in two years and provide professional training for small
grassroots groups.
According to official statistics, there are over 2,000 environmental NGOs in China,
most of which are small, loosely organized and lacking in communications
framework. "There is a long way to go to establish full public participation, a
disclosure system for environmental information and a democratic decision-making
process for environmental issues, but it's SEPA's ultimate goal," said Pan.
1325