Representatives from Guizhou met with European experts to discuss access to environmental justice

A high-level policy tour was successfully carried out in Sweden between the 23rd and 26th of September. During the visit, the 13 participants from Guizhou and China met with European experts to discuss the protection of the public’s environmental right and the importance of access to justice.

The tour took place in Stockholm and Uppsala, Sweden, inviting 8 participants from China as part of the EGP-Guizhou Project but also welcoming 5 participants from the Chinese project “Study on Compensation Legal System for Heavy Metal Pollution Damages”. 

The aim of the tour was to discuss the issue of access to environmental justice together with European stakeholders, get insight to the European experiences on environmental justice and compare and discuss the different legal systems. Visits during the week included the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Legal department at Uppsala University and the Swedish NGO “Swedish Society for Nature Conservation” (SSNC). Furthermore, the participants from China met with professors in environmental medicine from Karolinska Institute and judges from the Swedish Land and Environmental Court of Appeal.

After meeting with the European experts in Sweden, the participants from China concluded that although there are many differences between the Swedish/European system and the Chinese system, the insights from the tour has provided the participants with many new ideas and thoughts on access to environmental justice to bring back to China and Guizhou Province. From an EGP-Guizhou project point of view, the discussions and tour in Sweden will be an important base for coming drafting proposals and policy recommendations.

For more information on the tour, see: Documentation from EGP-Guizhou events or contact Ms. Gao Xiaoyi, ACEF, tel+86 10 51230007, e-mail: gaoxiaoyi@acef.com.cn