Translated from the Chinese.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preliminary Material -- We Are All Victims of Pollution and Responsible for Our Planet / Dun Li -- 1. Beijing’s Environment during the Olympic Games and the Post-Olympic Outlook / Hujun Li -- 2. Large Projects in Quake-Stricken Areas after the Sichuan Earthquake / Xiao Fan -- 3. Forestry Decentralization May Lead to Crisis / Yongfeng Feng -- 4. Plateau Wetlands: Functions, Values, and Environmental Deterioration / Kun Tian -- 5. Pastoral Industrial Policies and Grassland Ecology / Zhiyi Gai -- 6. Opportunities and Risks of Genetically Modified Crops / You Zi -- 7. Road Construction: Ecological and Social Problems / Zhengji Piao and Xiaohui Shen -- 8. Air Quality and Quality of Life / Yan Peng -- 9. Agricultural Pollution Zoning and Comprehensive Control Measures / Shumin Liang -- 10. Marine Pollution in China: A Gloomy Outlook / Chen Yu -- 11. A Turning Point in China’s Energy Conservation and Emissions Reduction? / Jianrong Qie -- 12. Significant Developments in China’s Environmental Legal System in 2008 / Jia Feng -- 13. The Ministry of Environmental Protection: From Organizational Upgrade to Functional Enhancement / Shiqiu Zhang -- 14. Natural Resource and Environmental Issues in the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference / Hongwei Chen -- 15. Plastic Bag Restriction: An Unfinished Mission / Da Mao -- 16. Environmental Public Interest Litigation / Zhongmei Lü -- 17. Promoting Open Environmental Information / Jingjing Wang and Qingyuan Ruan -- 18. New Developments in Environmental Economic Policy / Kanping Hu -- 19. China’s Comprehensive Engagement with a Low Carbon Economy / Guiyang Zhuang -- 20. Ecological Compensation and Payment / Ke Zhang -- 21. Environmental Performance of Enterprises in 2008 / Jianhua Su and Peiyuan Guo -- Annual Indexes: Environmental Trends -- Terminological Glossary -- Index.

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This volume of the China Environment Yearbook is the fourth in the seminal series by China’s first environmental NGOs, Friends of Nature. The fourth English translation updates readers on environmentally significant issues of 2008, a year of both tragedy and hope. 2008 was an eventful year that included such setbacks as the Sichuan Earthquake, debilitating snow and ice storms, an algae bloom at the site of the Olympic sailing venue prior to the games, and a worsening global economic crisis. But there were also events that filled the country with optimism, including a successful Beijing Olympic Games with good air quality, the upgrading of the State Environmental Protection Agency to ministerial level status, and significant developments in China’s environmental legal system and environmental public information disclosure mechanism. Other topics explored in this volume include marine pollution, wetlands, road ecology, eco-compensation, debates surrounding the newly instituted “plastic bag restriction” policy, public interest litigation, the concept of a low carbon economy, and the environmental performance of enterprises in 2008. Volume four is essential for those looking for a window into issues affecting China’s environment from the viewpoint of civil society.