But lawsuits and compulsory insurance will have little impact on the behavior of big polluters without the help of government, a culture of corporate responsibility and, as environmental minister Pan Yue has pointed out, increased public participation. The Chinese legal system is still largely cool to the public interest when it comes to environmental issues; for instance, class action lawsuits are prohibited. And currently the fine for companies caught polluting is capped at 200,000 yuan (US$25,557.5), no matter the seriousness or duration of the pollution. That's a small price to pay for quite an expensive problem.

As Pan Yue writes,

Frequently we hear people say that Chinese living standards are too low and that the most urgent thing is to develop the economy. They hold that environmental protection should be an issue of secondary importance. But in fact, China is the last country that can hold this view. The country has too many people and few natural resources; China does not have the capacity to take on this burden. The sustainable development model is the only model of development for China. We must set in place a series of practical policies and regulations, call on citizens to participate in the environmental protection movement and strengthen our democratic and legal systems. Otherwise, sustainable development will become a mere slogan.

: : China Daily via Chinadialogue

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