Public awareness of environmental rights improved

Chinese people have largely improved their awareness of environmental rights, although difficulties exist for environmental lawsuits, the All-China Environmental Federation (ACEF) said Monday. Evidence in many environmental rights-related lawsuits has been difficult to obtain and identify, causing many suits to fail, the ACEF said. Zeng Xiaodong, vice president of ACEF, said the protection of the right to a clean environment should be carried out on the basis of people's awareness. "We hope that through our efforts to safeguard people's environmental rights, China can discover new ways to develop research in environmental protection and promote economic reform," Zeng said. "ACEF has published free manuals to guide the public in safeguarding their environmental rights," Zeng said. "We hope more people, especially vulnerable groups, will use legal and effective ways to solve environmental problems." The ACEF, a leading Chinese non-governmental organization, was involved in 44 environmental rights cases in 2011 and helped win 28 of the cases.