WANG CANFA

ENVIRONMENTAL LAWYER AND DIRECTOR OF THE CENTRE FOR LEGAL ASSISTANCE TO POLLUTION VICTIMS

Environmental protection has been Wang Canfa’s focus for decades, particularly how to translate China’s ambitious efforts to contain pollution into action. As the director of the Centre for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims, he has brought legal cases against businesses that might have previously treated laws and regulations as suggestions, and helped those whose lives have been affected along the way.

Wang is also a professor at the China University of Political Science and Law and is widely recognised by environmental activists and government leaders as an expert on the impact of China’s rapid economic growth on its climate and culture. He has helped draft provisions designed to give more clarity to enforcement and penalties for violating China’s “ecological redlines” regulations that are intended to fortify the nation’s goal of sustainable development, writing on topics like distant-water fishing and construction projects that threaten protected species or wildlands.

Wang has been honoured on several occasions for his impact in holding industrialists to power and for fielding thousands of complaints across the country. “As long as we persist, the goal of establishing Chinese environmental rule of law will be achieved someday,” Wang said in 2018 upon receiving a Ramon Magsaysay Award, which is one of Asia’s highest honours for transformative leadership.