New perspectives on the politics of Chinese environmental nongovernmental organizations: a case study of the Greener Beijing Institute

Environmental activism has emerged in China since the mid-1990s and environmental nongovernmental organizations (ENGOs) are becoming increasingly visible players in China‟s environmental politics, drawing hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens into environmental activities. Through a close look at the Greener Beijing Institute (GBI), this thesis examines how this grassroots group has developed in a gradual way and the characteristics of it in the context of Chinese political and social conditions. The thesis also discusses the main campaigns GBI has carried out and what difficulties they have met with in the process to exemplify how the environmental movement actually operates in China. In conclusion, the thesis shows that Chinese ENGOs today tend to adopt a conciliatory style to raise public consciousness and expand the space for political participation. Nevertheless, the road ahead for China‟s ENGOs is still hard. They often lack necessary financial support, technical capacity and broad public participation.