The founding editor (Ms. Isabel Hilton) of the influential chinadialogue website spoke at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology about environmental journalism’s role in informing the public – particularly about the difficult balance between rapid economic growth and environmental damage. She discussed and illustrated with examples how media, citizens and the law contributed to solutions for China’s environmental challenges.

Chinadialogue.net, also called 中外對話, was founded in 2006 in London as the only bilingual, independent organization looking specifically at these issues. It promotes understanding of challenges like climate change, species loss, air pollution and water scarcity. Environmental costs may account for 10% of China's GDP. Given the nation’s size, its problems with issues like pollution may impact the whole world.

Isabel Hilton, OBE, has an MA (hons) in Chinese from Edinburgh University, and studied at the Beijing Foreign Language and Culture University, and Fudan University in Shanghai. She and her work have appeared in The Sunday Times, The Independent, The Guardian, The New Yorker and The BBC. For chinadialogue, she has interviewed prominent figures like Nobel Laureate Al Gore.