Zijin Mining’s environmental disasters have overshadowed the firm’s meteoric rise. Li Taige wonders when polluting companies – and the officials who protect them – will realise the value of proper supervision.

In its previous incarnation, back in the 1990s, Zijin Mining – now one of China’s

While the US Senate has backed off on climate legislation, China is considering launching emissions-trading programmes within five years, write Alexander Ochs and Haibing Ma.

Just when leaders in the United States Senate admitted to abandoning their plan of issuing a federal climate bill by the end of this year, top Chinese officials

The devastating mudslide in Zhouqu last month was far from a one-off, write Lu Zongshu and Tang Jing. Millions in China are threatened by geological disaster – and they need protection.

On August 7, a huge mudslide struck Zhouqu, in Gansu, western China. By August 16, more than 1,200 people had been declared dead and 490 were still missing. According to Xinhua news agency, this was the wors [...]

Far from the Gulf of Mexico, environmental campaigners are accusing energy companies of destroying land and livelihoods in the search for increasingly scarce resources. Richard Wachman and Jon Stibbs report.

The eyes of the world are on BP after the April disaster that left massive amounts of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico. But campaigners accuse Big Oil of an appalling tr [...]

A project to flush sediment from the Yellow River has been hailed as a technological and environmental triumph. But, writes Meng Si, local communities are at risk.

At four in the morning one day in early July, 31 villagers living on the banks of the Yellow River in Jiaozuo county, central China, woke to find themse [...]

As governor Arnold Schwarzenegger leaves office in November, state residents will be asked to vote on a ballot measure that could kill their landmark climate bill. Jan McGirk reports.

Post Copenhagen, support for carbon trading has been falling globally. Now it appears that even California, famed for its environmental trend-setting, is losing its enthus [...]

Until recently, Yu Qingtai was Beijing’s top climate negotiator. In a speech earlier this month, Yu argued that the developing world must continue to resist unfair demands from rich countries. Here, chinadialogue publishes a summary of his remarks.

On August 6, Yu Qingta [...]

In the chaos of Mumbai’s best-known slum, thousands of recyclers process the megacity’s garbage and provide an invaluable environmental service. But the health and social costs are high, writes Anna da Costa.

“It’s funny how we popularise our movie stars,” said Vinod Shetty, director of the Acorn Foundation, when we met in his crowded office in Mumbai. “There ar [...]

Unlike BP, China’s state-owned polluters have been allowed by friends in government to ignore the consequences of their actions, writes Tang Hao.

There is more than one BP in this world. On July 3, toxic waste from a Zijin Mining copper plant spilled into the Ting River in Fujian, south [...]

Zhou Shirong is deputy director of nuclear safety at China’s environmental protection ministry. Here, he talks to Cao Haidong and Meng Dengke about managing construction standards – and public anxiety.

This article was originally published by Southern Weekend on July 1, 2010.

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