Sheri Xiaoyi Liao is
the founder and president of the Global Village of Beijing (GVB)
an independent, non-profit Chinese organization working to help
China
achieve environmentally sustainable development by raising awareness
of environmental issues through public education, the media and
community-based
activities. Since Earth Day 1996, GVB has produced "Time for Environment",
which airs weekly on China Central Television. GVB also helped start
a first-of-its-kind recycling program in Beijing, publishes academic
reports as well as citizen’s guides to environmental sustainability,
holds national forums to educate Chinese journalists on environmental
issues, and runs a nature reserve and education center north of Beijing.
Liao, 45, was in New York recently and discussed with Mia MacDonald
the state of the environment, the environmental movement in China and
how she got started as an activist.
How would you describe the state of the Chinese environmental movement?
Who are its leaders?
I don’t think it’s a movement; it’s just the start
of environmental consciousness. I like to use the image of awakening.
People are awakening to how important environmental issues are to them,
mostly in cities. I don’t like to use the word ‘leader’ for
myself. Motivator is better. There are some motivators, like Liang
Congjie, the first Chinese environmental motivator. He founded Friends
of Nature in 1994, the first environmental non-governmental organization
(NGO) in China. I hope after Earth Day 2000 (see sidebar) that all
the
environmentalists in China will share their experience and work together.
How did you get interested in and begin working on environmental
issues in China?
My concern for environmental degradation in China began 10 years
ago when I was a researcher at the China Academy of Social Sciences.
I read some articles about environmental disasters worldwide and some
reports on China’s environment, and I was shocked by the situation.
I tried to find further information on environmental disasters or environmental
degradation in China, but I couldn’t find anything—in English
or Chinese—in the library of the China Academy of Social Sciences.
This shocked me and I decided to do something. I transferred the focus
of my research to the environmental costs of China’s industrialization
and I published some articles.
Also, I was an editor of an economics magazine, and in that capacity
I came across a survey that said that developed countries’ environmental
problems are less serious when compared with China’s, due to public
awareness of environmental issues in developed countries; the survey
said that in developed countries, even where the environmental quality
is relatively good—cleaner air and water than in China—people
were very worried about the environment. For them, environmental protection
was a priority in their lives. In China, there is lots of water and
air pollution, and plant species are disappearing, but Chinese citizens
feel OK, they feel good; they never think that the environment is a
priority issue. About four years ago I saw a board that asked people
to list their 10 main concerns. On that list there was nothing about
the environment. I came to the conclusion that the Chinese people don’t
know about their environment and that the main problem is the lack
of
public education on environmental issues. At that time there was no
TV program or newspaper that talked about the environment in China.
There were a few environmental newsletters, but the readership was
very
limited.
When you began to think and write about environmental issues, did
you have a support network—family, friends, or other people interested
in the issues?
No, at that time I think I was very alone.
What did you do? What steps did you take to transform your interest
in the environment into action?
After I became concerned about the state of the environment in
China, I began researching the issues. I published many papers on the
environment
in magazines, but I don’t think many people read them, and there
was still no attention to environmental issues. So I decided that public
education is maybe the most important factor. Then I took a second step:
I changed myself from a researcher to an educator. I started learning
how to make TV programs, and became an independent TV producer. My first
series, "Green Talks," was broadcast in 1994. For it I interviewed
more than 30 experts in China about the environmental situation and
sustainable development. I also had the opportunity to study in the
U.S., as a visiting scholar in international economic policy at the
University of North Carolina. In the U.S., I had exposure to a great
deal of research on environmental issues in China and globally, and
to people actually working as activists in the U.S. and in other countries.
I met and videotaped interviews with many of them.
I returned to China in 1995. The turning point came in 1996 when, I
became the founder of a non-profit, non-governmental organization,
Global
Village of Beijing (GVB). Through GVB, I realized my double mission:
environmental education and development of the NGO sector in China.
Despite the increased investment of money in environmental protection
by the Chinese government, particularly for industrial pollution control
and conservation projects, a lack of public awareness and a lack of
demand from communities for enforcement at the local level means that
the government’s actions are not yet very powerful in protecting
the environment. GVB’s goal is to bring about policy change and
individual change through public demands for such changes and individuals’ own
actions.
What have been the greatest successes so far of GVB?
The TV series ["Time for Environment"] is one of the best—to
have an NGO independently produce a weekly TV program on national television
I think is unique, even in the world. I contacted some NGO people and
they were all surprised that an NGO can run a TV program on China Central
Television. Through "Time for Environment" we can express
our ideas and our concepts. In particular, we emphasize public participation.
Even though in recent years there have been some environmental programs
on Chinese TV, they have not been strong on NGO participation. Only
journalists, not NGOs, present these programs. GVB’s TV programs
have three advantages over other environmental TV programs. First, we
are an NGO—we have a commitment and we have campaigns. Second,
we are experts on public education so we know what messages will motivate
the public. I think this is why our program is very popular. The third
advantage is that we are also journalists—environmental media—so
we can work together and make our program very professional and very
persuasive. This Earth Day we will celebrate "Time for Environment’s" fourth
birthday.
What about changing policies on the environment—actual programs?
Another of GVB’s most successful efforts is the recycling program
in Beijing. When we started this in a community in Xicheng District
[one of the eight districts Beijing is divided into] in 1996, even American
experts on recycling told us that this would be too difficult, that
they had been trying for almost 20 years to develop such a program.
Some Chinese government officials also told us that they had wanted
to start a recycling program in the past but that they failed. But we
promoted the recycling project as a community activity and also as a
way to bring about policy changes. When we established the project,
we organized a media campaign to report on it, and then we sent a proposal
to Congress. Then an official in the government’s environmental
bureau had all of his staff come to GVB to help develop a similar program
in another of Beijing’s districts. We worked together for more
than two years and eventually established the first recycling program
in that district. We then worked with officials in that district to
organize all the other districts in Beijing to make a commitment to
the recycling program, and this year, all of Beijing will develop recycling
programs.
This is a good example of how NGOs can cooperate with local government,
the media and communities to make policy change. Development of the
NGO sector is fundamentally important in China, so no matter how difficult
[things get], I have to keep going.
What have been the biggest obstacles to GVB’s work?
The first difficulty is that the NGO concept is not well known
in China. Also, there are financial difficulties. We have no regular
funding
for TV production. We have to get almost every penny we need from donors
overseas. There is limited philanthropy in China. One reason is that
there is no system for taking a tax deduction for donations like there
is in the U.S., which makes it very difficult. In the beginning, in
order to keep the TV program going, I had to do everything with no
assistance—I
had to be the director, the editor, the host, everything. Some friends
at China Central TV helped me get studio time for free, but I had to
be there at midnight to use it. So, I rode my bicycle back and forth
a long distance at midnight. I had no money to rent an apartment, so
I had to live with my friends in a very small place. For a year and
a half, I couldn’t stretch my legs in the bed—it was that
small! Sometimes I cannot understand myself how I keep going.
What is the biggest environmental problem in China?
The state is undergoing a process of reform, and many services
are being privatized. The biggest problem is the release of the government
industries to private industries; this economic policy is causing environmental
problems. China’s environment is so bad, and getting worse. But
this liberalization or privatization is only one-way: from government
to business, but not to NGOs. As a result, public participation in
the
environmental movement is very undeveloped, but it is essential to
promote public participation through NGO development and community
development.
Is development of the NGO sector in China inevitable?
Yes, it will happen, but not by faith alone. Someone has to push
it, promote it. There are a lot of examples of how Chinese NGOs, like
Friends of Nature, can function. So the government and the media already
recognize the role of the NGO sector. China doesn’t need more
PhDs, but more NGOs.
How do you think increasing globalization and China’s bid to
join the World Trade Organization will affect China and its environment?
I think globalization is both positive and negative. The positives
are the promotion of civil society and NGO participation, and the creation
of a demand for green products—the opening up of green markets
in China. The negative is the globalization of consumerism. I worry
about that. In China, there is a rush to follow U.S. consumption patterns,
and the government is paying little attention to this. There is a need
for individuals to live "green lives." I hope that globalization
will help more Chinese people understand that the environment is not
a government responsibility but a personal responsibility, and how
to
make environmentalism a daily habit.
For more information on the Global Village of Beijing, or to contribute
to its efforts, contact GVB’s U.S.-based arm, the U.S.-China Association
for Environmental Education, 300 Broadway, Suite 26, San Francisco,
CA 94133. Tel. (415) 788-3666; Email: ucafee@igc.org;
Website: www.gvbchina.org. In China, GVB can be contacted at: CIAD Building,
Room 301, Yuanmingyuan Xilu 2, Beijing 100094, China. Tel. 86-10-6289-3120;
Fax; 86-10-6289-4845; Email: gvb@public3.bta.net.cn.
China in the Grip—Pollution,
Deforestation, Desertification
As China’s economy continues its rapid expansion,
the environmental costs of production and consumption mount. And as
China’s 1.2 billion people get a taste of the Western consumer
lifestyle (which U.S., Japanese and European corporations and agribusiness
are only too eager to provide), the demands on China’s resources
are expected to increase exponentially. Here is just a snapshot of the
environmental challenges China faces:
• Illegal logging and slash-and-burn agriculture denude 5,000 square
kilometers of virgin forest each year.
• Logging, overgrazing of livestock, industrial development and
poor irrigation is causing desertification throughout China; nearly
28 percent of China is now desert.
• Less than 20 percent of municipal waste receives any treatment
before being disposed into rivers and streams.
• The World Bank estimates that nearly 300,000 people in China
die each year from air pollution, and that more than 10,000 people have
been poisoned by pesticides on foods, with several thousand dying as
a result.
• Nearly 25 percent of the world’s endangered species (156
out of 640) make their home in China and are being imperiled by human
expansion.—M.M.
Sources: Time (international edition), UN Wire.
China and Earth Day 2000
The 30th anniversary of Earth Day will be a big
deal in China. It will have an extraordinary potential for impact because
ambitious nation-wide activities are planned (no small undertaking in
a country of 1.2 billion people) and because Chinese environmental organizations
will, for the first time, collaborate with other NGOs and the Chinese
government on a national event. The Global Village of Beijing (GVB)
is coordinating China Earth Day activities, as part of the global Earth
Day 2000 Network. Earth Day veteran Denis Hayes, coordinator of the
very first Earth Day, recently visited China to discuss Earth Day plans.
He was, according to media reports, highly encouraged, saying, "The
trip surpassed my hopes by a factor of 10."
Using the injunction "Earth Day is Everyday" as its central
message, GVB will spearhead a set of initiatives, among them:
• A signature campaign: GVB will print and distribute via newspapers,
magazines, the Internet and newsletters a "Green Life Commitment"
card that asks individuals to commit to environmentally-friendly behaviors—not
wasting energy and food, not using disposable products and not eating
exotic animals. Signatures of leaders, specialists and eminent Chinese
citizens are also being gathered.
• A journalists’ forum, co-sponsored with the China Environmental
Journalists Association, that will provide ideas and training to help
journalists better cover environmental issues, as well as promote environmental
activism through the media.
• An Earth Day commemorative ceremony in central Beijing featuring
speeches and performances and the participation of university students,
environmental NGOs and the general public.
• The production and broadcast of an Earth Day "special"
on China Central Television focused on Earth Day activities and environmental
activism.
• The production and dissemination of a "Green Map" that
highlights environmentally-friendly businesses in Beijing, such as hotels
that use energy efficient light bulbs and restaurants that do not use
disposable products or feature exotic animals on their menus.
Additional Earth Day 2000 activities in China will include outreach
and public education on environmental issues by university students,
tree planting, a bicycle tour of Beijing to promote the use of bicycles
and mass transit as environmentally-friendly means of transportation,
seminars for university-based environmental specialists, and additional
media activities.—M.M.
