2014 Ramon Magsaysay Awards: Anti-pollution lawyer works for China’s poor

MANILA, Philippines - In recent decades, China’s relentless drive for economic growth has put the environment under great stress – poisoning China’s water and air, polluting cities and farmlands and putting the lives of millions of Chinese at risk.

That China’s environmental problem has reached crisis levels is acknowledged by China’s central government, which has passed and strengthened a number of environmental protection laws.

But the success of this effort hinges on the strength of public participation in addressing what stands as one of China’s most serious challenges.

This is where Ramon Magsaysay awardee Wang Canfa, an environmental lawyer, has played an essential role.

The son of farmers in Shandong province, Wang knew early on how the poor can be crippled by a sense of powerlessness. He worked hard to earn law degrees from Jilin University and Beijing University, and rose to become a leading environmental lawyer in China.

In 1998, as a professor at China University of Political Science and Law, he founded the Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims (CLAPV), the first center of its kind in China to focus on providing free legal help to pollution victims. Manned by Wang as director, a deputy and a pool of pro bono volunteer lawyers, CLAPV has handled through its hotline more than 13,000 environmental complaints; filed more than 550 cases, including some class action suits involving as many as 1,721 plaintiffs; and scored victories against chemical, steel, mining, waste incineration and other plants.

CLAPV’s legal victories have led to the suspension of some environmentally destructive projects and secured compensation for victims.

But Wang’s work extends beyond litigation. Knowing that enlightened action is the key, and working constructively in what is a relatively new field, CLAPV has conducted training in environmental law for around a thousand lawyers, judges and other stakeholders and built a network of practitioners of environmental law.

Going even further, Wang and his colleagues have participated in the drafting and review of more than 30 environmental laws and regulations.

His participation in legislation has promoted the establishment of some legal systems which better protect victims’ rights and strengthen the punishment of polluters.

In 2010, Wang took another bold step when he established a public interest law firm specializing in environmental law and providing services for free.

Beijing Huanzhu Law Firm, with more than 30 lawyer-volunteers, has continued and bolstered CLAPV’s litigation efforts. To date, the firm has tenaciously pursued and found ways to raise funds that will sustain their pro bono programs.

Working out of a tiny law office in a rundown Beijing apartment block, this diminutive, amiable and unprepossessing man is larger-than-life for those who know of his work as leader of a broad network of environmental lawyers, academics and community groups.

Wang knows the way ahead is not easy, but he remains both determined and optimistic.

“As long as we persist, the goal of establishing Chinese environmental rule of law will be achieved someday,” he asserts.