Why is China appointing judges to combat climate change? | James K. Thornton

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4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 16 February 2022

⏱️ 12 minutes

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Summary

Why is China appointing thousands of judges to environmental courts and training prosecutors to bring cases to them -- even if it means suing the government? Eco-lawyer James Thornton takes us inside the country’s growing effort to use the power of the courts to address environmental problems -- a little-known story that indicates China could become a champion of legal action on climate.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Elise Hugh. You're listening to TED Talks Daily. Today, a talk that might be counterintuitive for some Western audiences.
0:12.5	Eco lawyer James Thornton has been working in and with China on environmental issues for years.
0:18.8	And in his talk from the Countdown Summit in 2021,
0:22.2	he shares signs that China is leading and innovating on climate action,
0:27.4	pointing a way forward to ideas that could be implemented by other polluting countries
0:32.0	and companies across the globe.
0:36.9	Imagine a world in which China was an environmental leader.
0:42.3	That would be a more hopeful world, wouldn't it?
0:45.4	When we hear about China, we usually hear about human rights, trade disputes, toxic pollution.
0:52.2	And I'm not here to dispute the news. Instead, what I want to do is
0:57.2	share with you evidence based on personal experience of where China is leading. Client Earth,
1:04.0	the environmental law organization that I set up, has a 15-person office in Beijing.
1:12.0	We work as trusted partners with the Ministry of Environment.
1:16.3	We train judges, and we train prosecutors in environmental prosecutions.
1:22.3	Let me share with you how this all began.
1:25.1	In 2014, I was invited to Brussels to meet a group of Chinese officials.
1:30.4	They said they wanted to meet CEOs of Western environmental groups
1:34.8	because they were looking to encourage more environmental groups in China.
1:42.2	Shortly after that, I was invited to Beijing by the Supreme People's Court,
1:46.9	the highest court in the land. The judges were working on regulations for a new law that would
1:53.0	allow Chinese environmental NGOs to sue polluting companies, including those owned by the state.
2:03.2	They were interested in my advice because of my extensive environmental litigation experience in Europe and in America.
	...

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