Africa Institute for Environmental Law
Political Economy Dialogue on Natural Resource Governance (PEDNARG) Discussion Series
August 18, 2021
In this third event in the PEDNARG series, a panel of experts discussed Chinese investments and legal jurisprudence in environmental law, with a particular focus on policy implications for African countries.
Matthew Erie joined Josephine Chiname from the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association and Veronica Zano from Southern Africa Resource Watch to consider how the latest research provides insights into these issues and how such insights can be translated into practical policy recommendations.
Josephine spoke about the environmental impact of Chinese investment in the mining sector in Zimbabwe, and her work looking at air, water and noise pollution and land degradation at the local level. It is clear that Chinese-owned mining operations are placing a huge burden on local communities and regions and that there are significant flaws in current environmental regulatory processes and enforcement. In general, Chinese investors tend to be very clear about what they are looking for from African countries, but such countries are not always certain about what they need from the relationship, including how best to protect the human rights of their citizens.
In his talk, "China, Law and Development: Legal and Policy Implications for Africa," Matthew focused on his research looking at the issue from a China perspective: How does China protect its overseas investments? What is the role of law in China's global development, and What are the effects of China's cross-border ordering? With respect to environmental governance, it is important to understand China's domestic picture, with rapid economic growth in the 1980s and 1990s leading to increasing demand for natural resources and a proliferation of major polluting industries. Enforcement tended to be weak but fear of litigation has driven recent improvements. However, current cross-border environmental governance remains limited and fragmented. Chinese companies operating overseas are often required to follow host state laws - an approach which both recognizes the importance of local laws, but also delegates responsibility for monitoring, reporting and enforcement to the host country. Building a local, multi-stakeholder ecosystem of compliance, including developing the legal framework, could help host countries ensure overseas companies invest in a sustainable manner that respects the rights of citizens to live in a healthy environment.
A recording of the session is available here.
