Ecological and environmental code aligns stakeholders’ interests with national strategies, experts say
By HOU LIQIANG
China’s proposed ecological and environmental code is a milestone achieved after widespread consultations with stakeholders and alignment with the country’s strategic priorities, experts say.
The draft of the code was received at the annual session of the National People’s Congress in Beijing. It will become China’s second formal statutory code after the Civil Code was adopted in 2020.
The code will further forge a solid legal foundation for China to achieve modernisation with harmony between humanity and nature, Lou Qinjian, spokesman for the fourth session of the 14th National People’s Congress, said.
The code is expected to make legislation in this field more systematic, integrated, co-ordinated and timely, he said.
The experts said it includes provisions that focus on emerging challenges such as human-wildlife conflict, and includes new parameters to tackle the climate crisis.
The code could also offer other developing countries a model for integrated governance, they said.
Lyu Zhongmei, vice-chairperson of the NPC Environmental Protection and Resources Conservation Committee, said the scale of input into the code’s development had been immense.
The draft was delivered to the NPC Standing Committee for a third reading in late December. Lyu said she personally passed on revision suggestions from scholars, companies, central governmental bodies and local authorities.
The version submitted for the third reading features more than 420 substantive changes compared with the initial one, she said. The changes are closely aligned with the country’s latest strategic priorities, Lyu said.
After President
Xi Jinping announced China’s updated Nationally Determined Contributions to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in September, the NPC’s code drafting team conducted a comprehensive revision of the provisions on green and low-carbon development.
For example, China will reduce economy-wide net greenhouse gas emissions by 7 per cent to 10 per cent from peak levels, and basically establish a climate adaptive society by 2035.
The draft ecological and environmental code submitted for the third reading stipulates that the national government should develop and implement climate change adaptation strategies and take effective measures to mitigate the adverse impacts and risks of climate change to establish a climate adaptive society.
Lyu said institutions and systems that were not clearly defined by previous laws but have matured through practical exploration have been refined and summarised in the draft. The draft has responded to major topics of public concern, Lyu said, citing human-wildlife conflict as a prime example.
“To address the issue of human-wildlife conflict arising from wild animals encroaching on the residences of communities adjacent to protected areas, the draft code specifically introduced appropriate pro+visions.”
In areas severely affected by wildlife damage, local people’s governments at or above the county level are to organise bodies and individuals to implement measures to prevent, control and mitigate damage, the draft says.
In emergency situations, where personal safety is threatened by wildlife, legal liability is not incurred for measures taken that result in harm to wildlife, the draft says.
Hou Jiaru, director of the Environmental and Resources Law Institute at the China University of Political Science and Law, welcomed these provisions. They are designed to deal with the growing “extreme dilemma” of whether to protect humans or animals in conflicts, he said.
The draft code has a dedicated section on low-carbon development. It establishes China’s first legal framework for climate action that sets out the principles and basis for future climate laws in the country.
Dimitri de Boer, director for China at ClientEarth, an environmental law organisation, said this was the most impressive aspect of the draft code. It will provide a strong legal basis for a smooth climate transition and greatly promote climate mitigation and adaptation in China, he said.
The draft code has five sections — general provisions, pollution control, ecological conservation, green and low-carbon development, and legal liability and supplementary articles.
De Boer said the code will serve as the fundamental law of China’s environmental legal framework, and establish a unified and comprehensive legal basis for environmental governance.
He also highlighted the international significance of the ecological and environmental code.
Many countries regulate environmental issues through fragmented laws and regulations. China’s comprehensive ecological and environmental code can demonstrate how to integrate pollution control, biodiversity protection, climate governance, and liability mechanisms into a single, coherent legal architecture.
“As one of the world’s largest economies with diverse ecological regions, China’s efforts to codify environmental governance will provide insights for other countries on how to achieve full-scale green and high-quality economic development,” he said.
Xinhua contributed to this story.
Credit of the picture: SONG CHEN / CHINA DAILY
