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Working for
China’s Environmental NGOs
David Vance Wagner
I
work for a Chinese environmental NGO.
Wo zai yi ge zhongguo
huanbao zuzhi li gongzuo.
There
are generally only two directions the
conversation takes after I utter this
sentence to someone I’ve just met. That
direction is determined by the language
that I speak it in.
Before
I explain, however, a little background:
I live in Beijing, China, and work for a
locally-registered, non-profit,
non-governmental organization called the
Innovation Center for Energy and
Transportation (iCET). Through
collaborations with Chinese and
international governments,
organizations, businesses, and
academics, we work to advance clean and
low carbon policies for vehicles and
fuels in China.
As the
only foreigner in iCET’s Beijing office,
I am positioned directly at the
intersection of international dialogue
on China’s environment and local project
implementation. In this role, the
most meaningful work I do is to
facilitate the transfer of international
environmental policy precedent to our
Chinese government project partners.
Often,
this takes the form of technical
training. For example, I recently led an
afternoon workshop reviewing
international methodologies for
measuring the carbon impact of
transportation fuels. While preparing
for such trainings, I research and read
as many international reports I can
find, and often conduct early morning or
late night conference calls with experts
around the world. During the training
sessions themselves, however, I must
constantly remind myself that
my role is not to
proclaim unequivocally the
internationally solutions to China’s
environmental problems. Rather,
my role is as a guest, adviser, and
partner, facilitating dialogue meant to
empower, not to belittle. As such, the
greatest source of satisfaction in my
work lies not in how well I present and
explain international policy precedents,
but in how well the Chinese understand,
revise, and adopt such policies as their
own.
Now
back to my conversation. I work for
a Chinese environmental NGO.
Wo zai yi ge
zhongguo huanbao zuzhi li gongzuo.
If I speak this sentence in Chinese,
then I am speaking to a local Chinese
person. Most Chinese react to this
information with an approving nod,
followed by a thumbs-up and bucuo,
bucuo (good, good).
Sometimes I must clarify the fact that
we are not-for-profit – not a concept
that makes much sense in today’s China –
but as the conversation continues it is
positive and curious in nature:
Who do
you work with?
What
projects do you do?
How
does China compare to your home country?
I work
for a Chinese environmental NGO.
If I speak this sentence
in English, then I am speaking to a
foreigner. For the purposes of this
discussion, I’m referring generally to
citizens from “western,” developed areas
like the EU, the US, and Australia.
Foreigners invariably meet my statement
with a single word, Wow!,
followed by a flurry of exclamations
striking a sarcastic note:
You
really have your work cut out for you!
Is
there any hope?
So are
you guys actually doing anything?
This
cynical tone is justified through
rattling off of a number of statistics,
circumstances, and broad
generalizations:
I
heard that 16 of the 20 most polluted
cities in the world are in China!
China
is now the world’s largest emitter of CO2;
if they don’t cut back, nothing the rest
of the world does will matter!
The US
Olympic team will wear masks all the
time in Beijing because the air
pollution is so bad!
The
contrast between these reactions and
those of the locals is stark. Whereas
Chinese meet the information of my
profession with curiosity, gratitude,
and even hope, foreigners respond
immediately with a frustrating and
depressing combination of cynicism and
mockery.
What
causes this? Where do foreigners’
despondent attitudes about China’s
environment come from? They come from
the tendency of the international media,
scientists, and policy makers to focus
on categorising China’s dire
environmental situation as a “crisis.”
This conclusion is often strengthened by
citing independently gathered data,
because local Chinese data is deemed at
best incomplete and at worst incorrect.
Parallel investigations into Chinese
efforts to solve the crisis yield claims
that the government is powerless,
corrupt, or simply doesn’t care.
I
don’t claim that international reports
on China’s dire environmental
circumstances are at all exaggerated.
Obtaining an accurate depiction of the
current state of China’s environment is
clearly a critical first step towards
solving the crisis. But international
dialogue on China’s environment tends to
dwell not on solutions to the crisis,
but on the crisis itself.
This
critical discourse makes the job of
organisations like iCET much more
difficult. Within China, the tone of
much current international dialogue
about the country’s environmental
situation is perceived as arrogant and
elitist. Messages delivered in such a
tone naturally fall on deaf ears. As
one of my Chinese colleagues says, “in
China, if one only gives negative
comments, they are very difficult to
accept, even if they are true.”
My
role means I often meet foreign
environmental experts who are briefly
visiting China to speak at conferences
and share experiences. At one recent
conference in Beijing, I listened to an
American scientist passionately present
a detailed cost-benefit analysis showing
the necessity of a specific air
pollution reduction policy for China.
Though her argument was logical and
compelling, her presentation ultimately
degenerated into an exasperated
conclusion: “Look at the data I
measured! Can’t you see how bad it is?
You must do something about this!” But
despite her emotional plea, the
scientist later confided in me her
frustration that she didn’t think any of
the Chinese audience was even paying
attention.
Such a
reaction – on both sides – is typical.
Another international expert,
complaining at the lack of receptiveness
of the Chinese to his ideas, concluded
to me, “if they’re not even going to
listen, what’s the point of trying to
help?” Such attitudes then drive these
experts to return to their home
countries and write articles and
editorials excoriating China as
hopeless, corrupt, and unwilling to
listen.
I
work for a Chinese environmental NGO.
Wo zai yi ge zhongguo
huanbao zuzhi li gongzuo.
The
message that China’s environment is in
crisis is being heard loud and clear.
But at a time when China desperately
needs assistance in the form of
international expertise and technology,
the challenge to the international
community is to develop the dialogue
beyond merely the question of how bad
is the crisis. Questions such as
how can we help, and how may our
voice best be heard – and respected –
within China? are needed. Only
after such a shift will foreigners
perhaps finally stop asking me if my
environmental NGO is actually able to
accomplish anything. Maybe then will a
foreigner react in the same way as a
local Chinese person:
Good
for you. And thanks.
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