The purpose of this site is to track environmental accidents and environmental protests in China. We hope over time this site will serve as a valuable resource for people who are interested in understanding social tensions in the field of China’s environment.   

Environmental accidents refer to events caused by human activities that result in negative impact on the natural environment. Thus, natural disasters are not listed, nor are industrial production accidents that don’t have significant environmental impact. We refer to environmental protests as contentious, collective action about environmental issues involving at least three participants. Disputes over land, labor, or any other social issues are excluded. 

This site has cataloged such incidents in the latest ten years. We have systematically searched 48 media outlets from January 2005 to June 2014 for environmental accidents and environmental protests. This included 6 leading international media outlets (New York Times, Reuters, Bloomberg, Radio Free Asia, Guardian, South China Morning Post), 4 key social media sites that cover environmental issues (IPE (Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs), Sinocism, China Digital Times, China dialogue), the 7 leading domestic Chinese social media and newspapers (Sina, Sohu, Xinhua, People’s Daily, Phoenix, Southern Weekly, Southern Urban Daily), and the largest newspaper in each of the 31 Chinese provinces/municipal areas.

To continually keep track of environmental accidents and protests, we hope that readers will submit a report whenever they read, hear of, or witness such an event. You can click “Submit a Report” button, then fill in the fields on the site’s form. Each report should include a report title, the exact date, and place describing when, where, and how such incident takes place. You can use the “Find Location” function below the interactive map to locate the exact site. If possible, please include a news link, targets, pollutants, number of participants or causalities, etc. in the report. You do not need to leave your name or email address; it is optional.

Reports are “verified” (a) when they come from a reliable source, such as a major international or domestic news outlet, or (b) we receive multiple reports of an incident. We welcome reports of incidents that happened before June 2014 and were missed, as well as reports that help amend previous inaccurate reports.

This site is continually being updated. For any questions or advice regarding the data or the site, please contact us.