Civil Society and Environmental Governance in China

Civil Society and Environmental Governance in China

Workshop Report: Forging alliances for environmental protection between NGOs in different regions and sectors

“Forging alliances for environmental protection between NGOs in different regions and sectors” is one of the sub-projects of the Civil Society and Environmental Governance in China Project. To attract the attention of more Chinese NGOs, the China Association for NGO Cooperation (CANGO), the implementer of the sub-project, held a workshop from January 30th to 31st, 2007 in Beijing. 42 participants from NGOs, the media, and relevant government agencies attended the workshop. Through presentations and group discussions, the participants discussed the current situation of NGO cooperation for environmental protection, shared cases of NGO cooperation, and explored practical strategies for forging alliances and organizing collective actions for environmental protection between NGOs in different regions and sectors.

1. Problems and Challenges of NGO Cooperation for Environmental Protection

During the group discussions the participants concluded that NGOs faced a number of external and internal challenges in their cooperation for environmental protection.

1.1 External challenges

1.1.1 The unequal distribution of benefits between NGO partners caused by the media’s selective reporting. Deng Yongzheng from DFID said: “NGOs rely heavily on the media when promoting good environmental governance, but the media always prefer to report on celebrities and famous organizations. When several NGOs implement one project together, maybe the well-known organizations don't contribute much to the project, but the media tend to mention them, while those who do most of the work are neglected. This will impair the relationship between the organizations, and of course will do harm to the cooperation.”

1 Civil Society and Environmental Governance in China

1.1.2 Lack of platforms for NGOs to share information, resources and techniques. Lin Xin from Friends of Green Environment in Province said: “Some organisations in Jiangsu and Beijing are doing similar work, but there are not enough opportunities for them to share experiences. Without information transparency, there will not be equal cooperation. We need to build networks to facilitate cooperation. Because of unequal access to information, organisations who have the information can participate in some projects, but those who don't learn about the projects may not have the opportunity to participate. ”

1.1.3 Inequity in resource allocation and unequal relationships between small grassroots NGOs and big, established organisations. Organisations in Beijing have many more opportunities to receive financial support, while grassroots NGOs in other places often lack information on available funding.

1.1.4 The preferences of donors have undue influence on the way NGOs choose the focus of their cooperation. Instead of choosing their areas of cooperation based on the needs of the target groups, NGOs make their decisions according to donor preferences. CANGO’s Jing said: “I believe it is important to design projects according to the needs of the target group. If we make their needs our starting point, then NGOs’ survival would be guaranteed.”

1.1.5 The development of NGOs is restricted by some government policies. Sometimes the government takes credit for NGOs’ work. Andreas Fulda from CANGO said: “I have had such experience and I feel it's really unfair. The Public should know that NGOs have done these nice things, not the government.”

1.2 Internal Challenges

1.2.1 The sustainable development of NGOs is restricted by their poor capacity. The capacity and human resources of participating NGOs are the foundation of NGO cooperation, but all NGOs are not on the same development level and many are lacking in their human resources.

2 Civil Society and Environmental Governance in China

1.2.2 Without any formal system, the cooperation relies on the personal ability of the organisation’s leader, which makes the cooperation more between the leaders than between the organisations. Ms. Li Jing said: “The management system of some NGOs still needs to be perfected. When the cooperation depends on the leaders, a personnel change may cause the cooperation to fall apart.” Mr. Andreas Fulda added: “The cooperation between NGOs is more likely built on the decisions of leaders than the decisions of the organisations.” As a result, lots of potential alliances remain in the primary stages of discussion rather than becoming operational. And, because of the lack of formal arrangements, some organisations only nominally cooperate with others without actually contributing to the projects.

1.2.3 Many NGOs don’t have clear specialties. Ms. Li Jing said: “Lots of NGOs work in the same field, and try to accomplish the same work in the same way. This increases the competition for resources and results in wasted resources. Well-established international NGOs such as Green Peace have identified their special field, but most domestic environmental NGOs have not been able to develop a speciality area, making it difficult for NGOs to choose partners organizations for cooperation.”

1.2.4 Mechanisms for fair distribution of benefits have not been established among NGOs. For example, Mr. Zhang Zhongmin from Hebei Green Alliances said: “In Hebei, lots of NGOs have made great contributions to environmental protection, but my organisation always receives more credit than other organisations. This is neither good for my organization, nor for me personally.”

1.2.5 At present, many environmental NGOs are struggling to survive. Very few are able to articulate a clear vision for their organisation. Ms. Huang Zhen from the Fuping Development Institute said: “If NGOs are not sure about their vision, they cannot demonstrate the advantages of their organisations. It is therefore difficult to develop cooperation. In NGO cooperation, you should be aware that there are some musts, and must-nots. The partners should be chosen carefully because NGOs tend to have different visions. To be qualified partners, organizations need to have shared visions and each organisation should meet each other's standard.”

3 Civil Society and Environmental Governance in China

1.2.6 Experience sharing across organisations may lead to the loss of competitive advantages. Ms. Li Jing remarked: “Lots of NGOs are not willing to share their experiences with others, because they find that resource mobilization depends much on information and experience. Once they share knowledge and experience with others, they lose their competitive advantage, which is not good for their own organisations.”

2. The opportunities and resources that can be used to accelerate NGO cooperation for environmental protection

During the discussions, the participants came up with the following opportunities and resources that could help to accelerate NGOs cooperation for environmental protection:

2.1 Opportunities

Ms. Ma Tianlan from Xiamen Green Cross summarized that the following opportunities for NGO cooperation currently existed: a) Donors would like to see these kinds of alliances being formed. b) With effective networks, more resource can be mobilized. At present, both the government and the private sector are promoting cross-sectoral cooperation. Therefore, NGOs currently operate in an environment in which cooperation is encouraged. c) The deterioration of the natural environment has drawn much attention from the media and government. Now that the government pays more attention to environmental issues and gradually recognizes that NGOs can play a positive role in environmental protection, there will be more space for NGO cooperation. d) Some big GONGOs (government-organized NGOs) who have plenty of resources are now willing to learn from the experience of grassroots NGOs and to work together with them.

4 Civil Society and Environmental Governance in China

2.2 Resources

2.2.1 NGOs show strong demand for more cooperation, more communication and more information. Mr. Zheng Qingbao from the All-China Environment Federation (ACEF) said: “We want to develop cooperation with grassroots environmental NGOs on specific projects. We hope grassroots NGOs can provide local environmental information, for example, information on pollution victims, to us.”

2.2.2 There have already been some good experience and successful cases of environmental NGOs cooperation, for example, the “26 Degree Air-conditioning Campaign.” NGOs can draw lessons and inspiration from these successful cases.

2.2.3 Different organisations have different resource advantages, such as access to information, experience, experts, contacts in the private sector and government, volunteers, media access, community resources and human resources, etc. At the workshop, participants discussed which resources their organisations could provide to a network of environmental NGOs.

ACEF has a convenient communication channel, a strong team of experts, media partners, professional staff, as well as an environmental rights protection centre.

Ms. Zhou Yanfang from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) said: “NRDC has experience in environmental law, and can provide environmental law services for NGOs through the network.”

CANGO can provide the contact information of some NGOs, including international NGOs, and to help domestic and international NGOs contact each other. CANGO can also provide other resources, such as information, newsletters, training opportunities, and workshops and project information for grassroots NGOs.

Ms. Huang Zhen mentioned that the Fuping Development Institute (FDI) had experts

5 Civil Society and Environmental Governance in China on energy and ecology issues, and can share information and provide website service for other NGOs.

Mr. Lin Xin noted that Friends of Green Environment in Jiangsu Province could provide local human resources, such as enthusiastic volunteers who work in the media and the local government. Such local human resources are essential to successful project implementation and cooperation. In addition, his organization had already established an information exchange platform which could facilitate the management and share of volunteers.

Mr. Deng Yongzheng from DFID said that Defra’s sustainable development fund supports Sino-British dialogue on sustainable development and may fund workshops. Moreover, the UK government’s GOF fund could support climate change-related projects.

3. Lectures and Case Sharing

3.1 Lecture: NGO cooperation in other countries

Ms. Dagmar Woehlert, Senior International Advisor of CANGO, gave a presentation on the situation of NGO cooperation in other countries focused on the following five aspects: a) The definition of environmental governance: environmental governance is part of governance as a whole, which describes the use of political power to manage a nation’s affairs. Civil society needs to find its role within the governance process as the government needs the advice, support, monitoring and action of civil society. b) The environmental policy of the European Union. c) The national environmental policy of Germany and its integration into the EU policy. d) The reaction of German environmental NGOs to the German environmental policy within the EU and on the national level. e) The exchange between Chinese and European NGOs, mainly, but not limited to, the environmental field.

6 Civil Society and Environmental Governance in China

Ms Woehlert concluded that national NGOs should consider acting in an international framework in order to develop international networking and extend exchanges with other agencies/organisations.

3.2 Case sharing: Green Commuting

On the evening of January 30th, 2007, Ms. Zhang Lingge from Environmental Defense (EDF) introduced the “Green Commuting” project. The “Green Commuting” project is part of the Clean Air Campaign of EDF. The project is based on the fact that in cities air pollution is closely related to automobile emissions. In consideration of this situation, the project began by analyzing the relationship between air pollution and human health, aiming to reduce traffic pollution by increasing the use of public transportation, walking and cycling. The project organized a series of activities to help improve air quality, including advocating the signing of pledges by enterprises, and encouraging bicycle-riding or walking. This campaign also integrated some activities held by other organizations. For example, in late May 2005, the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau launched a ‘No Car Day’ campaign which had an immense impact on Beijing’s air quality. EDF cooperated with the Bureau immediately. Similar activities were held in Xiamen, Chengdu, Shanghai and other big cities, so EDF also cooperated with these cities. On a national level the project has been hampered by a lack of coordination between different cities. Furthermore, there is only so much one organisation alone can do, therefore the EDF is trying to encourage other NGOs to join the "Green Commuting" project.

After the presentation by Zhang Lingge, Ms. Ma Tianlan suggested launching a “Green Commuting Nation-wide Action” campaign, other participants responded positively to this suggestion. Mr. Haoming Huang of CANGO suggested forming a “Green Commuting NGO alliance.” Mr. Xiang Chun from Green Volunteer League of Chongqing said: “With this project, what we are most interested in is the social impact, not the funds. We wonder whether CANGO and EDF can provide us with some ideas and a project proposal which we can use as reference when designing our activities. Local partners may not always need financial support; sometimes they simply need technical support and assistance with public relations and ideas.”

During the discussion, several other cases of NGO cooperation were also shared,

7 Civil Society and Environmental Governance in China such as the 26 Degree Air-conditioning Campaign, and “Afforestation and Desertification Control in Fengning County” project. The "Green Commuting" case was most successful in getting all the environmental NGOs at the workshop to agree on further cooperation on a specific project.

4. Action Plan and Suggestions for Promoting Cooperation between NGOs in Different Regions and Sectors for Environmental Protection

During the workshop, the participants thought that the best way to promote NGO cooperation is to begin to build cooperation on some specific projects. Participants put forward several practical proposals.

4.1 Establishing a “Chinese Living Lakes” Network The Chinese Living Lakes network was proposed by the Association for the Promotion of Mountain-River-Lake Sustainable Development of Province, WWF China, Institute of Geography and Limnology, China Academy of Sciences, Yunnan Environmental Protection Bureau and CANGO at the closure of the 11th World Living Lakes Conference in City, Jiangxi Province. The network aims to gain support from international organisations and the government to promote the protection and development of Chinese lakes. At present, the preparation for the network is already on the way. Given that lake protection is an integrated and systematic project, support and participation from more organisations are needed.

4.2 Establishing a “Nature University” One workshop participant, Fen Yongfeng, a journalist from the Science and Technology section of Guangmin Daily, first presented the idea of establishing a Nature University in August 2006. Afterwards, the China Science Association, Friends of Nature, Global Village of Beijing, Green Camp, and Xiamen Green Cross jointly initiated the plan to establish a virtual ‘Nature University’. The main activity of the Nature University is to organize field visits for the public and let them witness China’s environmental problems first hand. The main purpose of this project is to unite environmental NGOs across the country to establish a national Nature University. During the workshop, participants discussed the details about how to develop such a union.

8 Civil Society and Environmental Governance in China

4.3 Holding Annual Conferences of Environmental NGOs for Sustainable Development It was proposed that environmental NGOs should organize annual conferences on sustainable development. Based on the workshop discussions and the research report prepared before the workshop, the All-China Environment Federation suggested that the 2007 annual meeting should focus on two main aspects: a) how to broaden the fundraising channel of Chinese NGOs, especially how to raise funds from the Chinese government, Chinese enterprises, and the Chinese public; b)how to institutionalize the cooperation of NGOs.

9 Civil Society and Environmental Governance in China

Appendix 1: Participants List

Se No Name Organization Region x UK Department for International 1 Deng Yongzheng M Beijing Development Ningxia Association of International 2 Di Rong F Economy and Technology Yinchuan Cooperation 3 Feng Li F Fuping Development Institute Beijing 4 Fu Huahui F Global Environmental Institute Beijing 5 Huang Zhen F Fuping Development Institute Beijing Center for Legal Assistance to 6 Huo Pengyan F Beijing Pollution Victims (CLAPV) 7 Li Ang F China Development Brief Beijing Ningxia Association for Volunteer of 8 Li Jigang M Yinchuan Environmental Protection 9 Li Junhui F Friends of Nature Beijing Friends of Green Environment in 10 Lin Xin M Nanjing Jiangsu Province 11 Lu Yiyi F Chatham House Beijing 12 Ma Tianlan F Xiamen Green Cross Xiamen 13 Mei Jiayong M Green Peace Beijing Foreign-Invested Projects Management Center of The State 14 Pi Guozho ng M Beijing Council Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and Development 15 Ren Ming M Tianjin Friends of Green Tianjin 16 Sun Xiaoyang F Beijing Green Cross Beijing 17 Wang Yuming F All-China Environment Federation Beijing The Green Volunteer League of 18 Xiang Chun M Chongqing Chongqing 19 Xiong Kun F Global Village Beijing Beijing Promotion Association for Mountain- 20 Yan Bangyou M River-Lake Sustainable Development Nanchang of Jiangxi Province 21 Yu Xiaoyong M Tainjin Friends of Green Tianjin 22 Zhang Lingge F Environmental Defense Beijing 23 Zhang Yifan M Hebei Green Alliances Shijiazhuang 24 Zhang Zhongmin M Hebei Green Alliances Shijiazhuang

10 Civil Society and Environmental Governance in China

Green Shann'xi Public Welfare Action 25 Zhao Chen M Xi'an Committee 26 Zheng Qingbao M All-China Environment Federation Beijing Natural Resources Defense Council 27 Zhou Yanfang F Beijing (NRDC Guangming Daily, Technology 28 Feng Yongfeng M Beijing Department 29 Liang Yixian F China International Business Beijing 30 Zhang Rundong M China Times Beijing China Association for NGO 31 Haoming Huang M Beijing Cooperation (CANGO) 32 Li Jie F CANGO Beijing CANGO Training and Capacity 33 Dagmar Whohlert F Beijing Building Department 34 Shi Zhongcheng M CANGO Beijing 35 Liu Tongqian F CANGO Public Relations Department Beijing CANGO Training and Capacity 36 Li Jing F Beijing Building Department CANGO Project Management 37 Andreas Fulda M Beijing Department CANGO Project Management 38 Fan Yang M Beijing Department CANGO Training and Capacity 39 Zhang Manli F Beijing Building Department 40 Zheng Hong F CANGO Public Relations Department Beijing CANGO Project Management 41 Yang Hongping F Beijing Department 42 Wang Meng F CANGO Public Relations Department Beijing

11 Civil Society and Environmental Governance in China

Appendix 2: Workshop Agenda

Date/Time Activities Coordinator/Speaker 30 Jan. 8:30-9:15 Registration 30 Jan. Mr. Shi Zhongcheng, Morning Advisor of CANGO 9:30-9:40 Welcome remarks Mr. Haoming Huang, Executive Director of CANGO 9:40-9:50 Welcome remarks Mr. Deng Yongzheng, DFID 9:50-10:00 Project introduction Dr. Lu Yiyi, Chatham House 10:00-10:20 Group photo 10:20-10:40 Tea break 10:40-11:00 Introduction of the research report on Ms. Yang Hongping, NGO cooperation CANGO 11:00-12:00 Q & A on the report 12:00-12:10 Conclusion of the morning session Mr. Shi Zhongcheng 12:30-13:30 Lunch 30 Jan. Ms. Li Jing, Deputy Afternoon Director of CANGO Training and Capacity Building Department 14:00-14:20 Public participation in environmental Ms. Zhang Lingge governance in the USA, especially with Enviro nmental Defense regard to NGO cooperation China Program (EDF) 14:20-14:30 Q & A 14:30-15:40 Group discussion (3 groups Problems and Challenges NGOs face in their cooperation on environmental protection

15:40-16:10 Tea Break 16:10-17:00 Groups report back to the plenary session, 15 minutes for each group 17:30-18:30 Dinner 19:00-20:00 Case sharing: Green Commuting Ms. Zhang Lingge, EDF 31 Jan. Ms. Li Jie, Deputy Morning Executive Director of CANGO 9:00-9:20 Case study: 26 Degree Ms. Li Jing, CANGO Air-conditioning Campaign 9:20-9:40 Case study: Afforestation and Ms. Zheng Hong, CANGO Desertification Control in Fengning County 9:40-9:50 Q & A 9:50-10:10 Tea Break 10:10-11:20 Group discussion (3 groups) 1. What kind of resources and advantages can be used to promote NGO cooperation in environmental protection based on the current

12 Civil Society and Environmental Governance in China

capacity of grassroots NGOs? 2. Suggestions for methods and actions to improve NGO cooperation in environmental protection 11:20-12:05 Group report back to the plenary session, 15 minutes for each group 12:30-13:30 Lunch 31st Jan. PM Mr. Shi Zhong Cheng 14:00-14:30 Collaboration of Chinese Ms. Dagmar Woehlert, environmental NGOs with agencies Senior International Advisor outside China of CANGO 14:30-14:40 Q & A 14:40-15:30 Discussion on Action Plan: Group 1: Discuss how to build a campaign network, how to design a cooperative system, how to allocate work among partners, and how to establish a reasonable benefit-sharing mechanism. Group 2: Discuss how to gain support from other agencies and meet their requirements for developing future cooperation. Group 3: Discuss how to establish an NGO alliance and what strategies can be used. Should the Alliance be formed based on issues or geographic affinities? How to integrate all resources? 15:30-15:50 Tea break 15:50-16:35 Group discussion summary, 15 minutes for each group 16:35-17:00 Form an NGO Cooperation Strategy Mr. Shi Zhongcheng Plan 17:00-17:10 Closing Remarks Dr. Lu Yiyi 17:00-17:10 Closing Remarks Mr. Haoming Huang

17:30-18:30 Dinner

13