Naomi Li interviews Ma Jun, the man behind the China Water Pollution Map, an impressive online water survey that aims to catalogue and make public levels of water pollution–and the companies responsible for it–throughout China:
NL: There are 2,500 offending companies named on your website?
MJ: Yes. I hope those companies we have named will view this in a positive way. Of course, we are not an anti-business organisation. But I think that in a healthy market environment, companies should carry out their social and environmental responsibilities. If they take their corporate social responsibilities seriously, they will be able to gain understanding and trust from the communities in which they operate.But the premise is that companies should feel some force of pressure from the public. Up to now, companies haven’t felt much pressure from the public regarding their environmental performance. A lot of them still believe they can just close their doors and shut their ears to concerns from the public. This is convenient, cost-saving and trouble-free. But the situation is changing, as the public’s concern for the environment grows…[Full Text]
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