The Sixth Hubei Provincial Environmental Protection Government Award was announced recently, and Professor Qin Tianbao, Director of Research Institute of Environmental Law of Wuhan University, was awarded the title of Advanced Individual. This is another honor after the Liangzi Lake Ecosystem National Field Scientific Observation and Research Station won the 2nd Provincial Environmental Protection Government Award in 2014 and the School of Resource and Environmental Sciences won the 3rd Provincial Environmental Protection Government Award in 2015. 

The award ceremony was held on June 7, Vice Governor Zhao Haishan attended the award ceremony and spoke. He stressed the need to deeply practice Xi Jinping ecological civilization thought, implement the provincial party committee and the provincial government's decision and deployment, and take advanced models as role models to promote the province's ecological civilization construction. Lv Wenyan, director of the provincial Department of Ecology and Environment, introduced that the purpose of holding the awarding conference is to further promote the concept of green development in the whole society by setting up typical examples and commending advanced ones, and to promote more active participation of all sectors of society in the construction of ecological civilization and ecological environmental protection, as well as to dedicate the upcoming centenary of the Communist Party of China.

For more than 20 years, Professor Qin Tianbao focused on serving the national environmental rule of law construction with his academic achievements. He has participated in the drafting or demonstration of nearly 40 laws and local regulations, including the Environmental Protection Law and the Regulations on Soil Pollution Prevention and Control in Hubei Province. Qin Tianbao was appointed as a member of the first ecological and environmental emergency expert group of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and a legal advisor to the Ministry of Water Resources, etc. He participated in the demonstration of major environmental decisions. He has served as the Vice President of the Environmental Resources Trial Division of the Supreme People's Court and has been directly involved in the drafting of many environmental resources judicial interpretations and documents and the trial of many environmental resources cases. He was also elected as Vice Chairman of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing under the Convention on Biological Diversity, and participated in inter-negotiations on biodiversity, oceans, and world environmental conventions as legal advisor. During the covid-19, Qin Tianbao shared opinion on amending the wildlife protection law and promoting the biosafety law, clarified misunderstandings in the international community, and positively publicized China's performance in fighting the covid-19.

The Hubei Provincial Environmental Protection Government Award is the first and the only provincial environmental protection government award in the country, which aims to set a model for environmental protection. As the highest award in the field of environmental protection in the province, the Hubei Provincial Environmental Protection Government Award is mainly for the province's grassroots frontline, recognizing advanced models that have made outstanding contributions to the construction of ecological civilization and environmental protection, with a strong social impact. Since the first award in 2013, there have been six awards, with 44 award-winning groups and 42 award-winning individuals.

Edited by Wang Yuting & Wu Liuqing