Dialogue Earth, formerly China Dialogue (), is an independent, non-profit organisation based in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
.
It was launched on July 3, 2006. Dialogue Earth is funded by a range of institutional supporters, including several major charitable foundations.
It focuses on the
environment, especially in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, although it has an interest in environment and
sustainability
Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...
issues around the world.
It features articles by Chinese and non-Chinese authors from a variety of perspectives. These include an interview with former US vice-president
Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...
and Chinese economist
Hu Angang. Other contributors include
Pan Yue who was named ''
New Statesman
''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...
'' Person of the Year 2007, and
Ma Jun a leading Chinese environmentalist named by ''
Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine as one of its 100 most important people in 2006.
Dialogue Earth formerly operated ''China Dialogue''; ''The Third Pole'', which reported on the
Himalayan watershed; ''Diálogo Chino'', on the Chinese relationship with Latin America; and China Dialogue Ocean.
History
Dialogue Earth was started in 2006 as China Dialogue.
In 2011, it played a significant role in public discourse about air pollution in Beijing, after publishing a report comparing official air pollution figures with figures published by the
US embassy in Beijing; the public discussions led to a change in policy by the Chinese environmental ministry.
Increasing restrictions on journalism in China have brought challenges for the organization.
It closed its Beijing office in 2022.
It was renamed as Dialogue Earth in April 2024.
Reception
Journalism professor Zhong Zhang of the
University of Sheffield
The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...
sees Dialogue Earth as unusual among news sources in China, both in the independence of its reporting and in its public service goals, as opposed to partisan or commercial goals.
Board members
The executive board is chaired by Alexander Benet Northcote.
References
Further reading
China Digital Times announces chinadialogue's launchAl Gore interview with chinadialogue covered on danwei.org
Transcript of China Central Television interview with editor Isabel Hilton
External links
*{{Official website
Chinese-language mass media
British environmental websites
Environmental issues in China
Multilingual websites