Recently, three law undergraduates from Nankai University came to the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) to investigate and research environmental public interest litigation. Dr. Zhou Jinfeng, Secretary-General of the CBCGDF, personally received three students and introduced the work related to the environmental public interest litigation of the CBCGDF. The three students summarized the interviews. Now we share the content as below. At the same time, we welcome students from all campuses to come to the CBCGDF to discuss the work related to environmental public interest litigation.
Before arriving at the CBCGDF’s office, all I want to do is "environmental public interest litigation" and "burden of proof allocation", which is also the purpose of my trip to the CBCGDF with my friends - to understand the current practice of burden of proof allocation in environmental public interest litigation.
Start with the burden of proof allocation and end with it. In the introductions of Director Zhang Na and Secretary-General Zhou Jinfeng, we learned about the ways in which the CBCGDF found possible harmful acts, dealt with the professional problems in investigation and proof, the ways in which it collected evidence in different types of litigation, the difficulty of practice of public welfare organizations as litigation subjects, and the concrete distribution of burden of proof allocation. Implementation and existing problems, original litigation claims, the amount and source of litigation costs, follow-up implementation, the distribution of litigation results of environmental public interest litigation, the shortcomings of environmental public interest litigation and other specific contents. In terms of legal business, the CBCGDF is indeed at a very high level, and the efforts of its staff are far beyond our imagination. As a student still in the "greenhouse" of school, I pay tribute to every staff member of the CBCGDF.
During the conversation, Secretary-General Zhou Jinfeng seriously talked with us about the CBCGDF, the ecological environment, the sustainability, and the future. Like other public welfare organizations, the CBCGDF is committed to protecting the ecological environment. Frequent business trips and research in various places are the normal work of many workers. They will face various difficulties and challenges in the process of field investigation. The intensity of work is self-evident, and the pressure of work cannot be ignored. Despite the frequent turnover of personnel, the organization has always insisted on speaking for the "environment" and has continued to have new forces to join in this great work.
CBCGDF will bring me the biggest surprise is the volunteer team. Before I entered the CBCGDF's office, I did not know that so many college students, farmers, and staff were volunteers. They either paid attention to the environmental changes around them and found every possible environmental damage or combined practice and academia to meet the challenges and promote the development of public interest litigation; or Participate in the field survey, provide sample materials... Volunteers are not only learning ecological knowledge but also using practical actions to disseminate ecological knowledge, using behavior to tell us how to better protect our home. Paying attention to the environment, protecting the environment and improving the environment is not a matter for one person or a group of people, but a matter for all people to take care of and participate in. Every species we save now, every woodland we protect, every river, maybe the capital we enjoy in the future, or the most precious treasure we leave for the next generation.
In the process of continuous development, we have begun to use the resources left to us by the earth in advance, because of this, the problems we are facing are more serious. What CBCGDF is doing is not a great thing. We have been advocating "sustainable development", but what should "sustainable development" be and how should we achieve "sustainable development" are the questions we need to answer. In the whole ecosystem, every species has its value of existence, and the ecosystem with more diversity and complexity is more stable. The disappearance of a species may not cause much trouble to our lives, but when more species are on the verge of extinction, we will eventually realize the seriousness of the problem. The value of protecting a heron is not in how many birds we can enjoy, but in preserving the ecosystem's food chain.
What is the work of the CBCGDF and volunteers doing? Is it for the pleasure of a square meter of woods or a few pangolins? They are concerned with the whole ecosystem and sustainable development after one year, ten years and one hundred years. This is undoubtedly a great revolution. We are not only devoting ourselves to GDP and per capita GDP anymore. In this process, we are beginning to focus on the future.
I think my strength is insignificant, but in the process of environmental protection, I found a lot of things to do. Maybe we don't have time to do field research, but it's easy for us to pay attention to the new trend of environmental public interest litigation, to the cases around us and to translate legal documents when we can. These seemingly small things are not about being able to do, but about wanting to do or not. In many cases, if you want to do, you are likely to do well.
We hope that more young people and more partners will pay attention to the "ecological destiny" and devote their efforts. We hope that we can work together to create an ecological miracle.
(Photo credit: CBCGDF)
Original Chinese article:
http://www.cbcgdf.org/NewsShow/4854/9104.html
By / Li Xue