Ma Jun
Ma Jun
Ma Jun, courtesy name Deheng, was a Chinese mechanical engineer and government official during the Three Kingdoms era of China. His most notable invention was that of the south-pointing chariot, a directional compass vehicle which actually had no magnetic function, but was operated by use of differential gears. It is because of this revolutionary devicethat Ma Jun is known as one of the most brilliant mechanical engineers and inventors of his day. The device was re-invented by many after Ma...
NationalityChinese
ProfessionEnvironmentalist
Date of Birth22 May 1968
CountryChina
It has been shown that public participation can limit powerful interest groups, while competing interests can help find a reasonable balance between development and environmental protection.
Of course, as consumers, we want cheap and good products; however, if these production processes are exceeding wastewater discharge standards and even causing heavy metal pollution, they will cause long-lasting damage to the ecological environment and public health.
Even the government understands that the environmental challenge is so big that no single agency can handle it. It needs collaboration among all the stakeholders - companies, governments, NGOs and the public. Public accountability will be the ultimate driving force.
This is the case to set a precedent. For the first time, there is a legal basis for public participation. If it happens, it would be a major step forward.
The motivation should come from regulatory enforcement, but enforcement is weak, and environmental litigation is near to impossible. So there's an urgent need for extensive public participation to generate another kind of motivation.
On April 16, 2010, 34 Chinese environmental organizations, including Friends of Nature, the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, and Green Beagle, questioned heavy metal pollution in a letter sent to CEO Steve Jobs.
At the end of the day, the government, local government all bow to public pressure.
Multinationals are more sensitive to public pressure because they have bigger brand names, and they have made commitments to be environmentally sensitive. Chinese firms are not used to this kind of pressure yet.
Like in those cancer villages, a group of old ladies kneeling down in front of me, you know, holding a bottle of polluted water and hoping that they would get help, this is the voice that got drowned in this complex, globalized supply chain system.
In the future, officials will feel more pressure to protect the environment. But how to assess the officials' efforts to protect the environment is still a pivotal issue.
If you publish something in traditional media, it's one-way. With social media, we get all this info coming back from those who read our posts.
Regulatory failings mean that the cost of breaking the law is far below that of obeying it - businesses are happier to pay fines than to control pollution.
People realised this is real pollution; it is not fog. Now everyone has to face the data and come out of their comfort zone.
In America, you complain about job losses because of China, but here, we carry all of the environmental costs.