Environmental civil society and governance in China

Chinese environmental groups have become increasingly active in the past few years and have begun to make an impact on environmental governance. The paper analyses the recent development of Chinese environmental civil society, the way it operates, and the challenges ahead, which include the need for environmental NGOs to improve their technical capacity, to strengthen further the collaboration between different organizations, and to strike a balance between maintaining domestic support and meeting international concerns. The biggest challenge ahead for environmental civil society is to develop the necessary skills to tackle the broader political, economic, and social issues that underlie environmental problems. © 2007 Taylor & Francis.