Rule of Law and Ecological Civilization

China’s environmental legal system has evolved over the past three decades with the country’s new framework law, the Environmental Protection Law, adopted in 2014. While China’s system of environmental laws is broad ranging providing many of the legal tools used in developed countries, the system is not unified and contains gaps and weaknesses. Overlapping regulatory responsibilities between government departments have resulted in fragmented, overlapping and inconsistent laws as well as gaps in the system. Looking to the future, capacity and willingness to enforce and validate compliance with the law will be essential if market-based mechanisms such as pollution trading programs are to succeed.

Task Force: National Green Governance System Topic: Environmental Governance Year: 2015 Phase: Phase V (2012-2017) Concluded