As part of its 2022–2023 Special Policy Study on Collaborative Mechanism for Pollution Reduction, Carbon Reduction, Green Expansion and Growth, CCICED is researching how China’s prosecutors could conduct public interest litigation to support the climate targets.
On June 5, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) issued the first set of 10 “typical cases” brought by prosecutors for carbon peaking and neutrality. This action is the clearest signal yet that prosecutors nationwide are encouraged to play their part in achieving China’s carbon peaking and neutrality targets.
From 2018 to 2022, China’s prosecutors have brought around 400,000 environmental public interest litigation cases: a system that is unique to China and that has played a key role in enforcing environmental laws across the country since it was formalized in 2017. In September 2021, Deputy Chief Procurator Zhang Xueqiao said in a speech at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) conference in Marseilles that China’s procurators are actively exploring public interest litigation on climate change. Earlier this year, the Supreme People’s Court issued a guiding document for climate-related cases, further opening the door for prosecutors to bring such cases.
Climate litigation is making important contributions to climate governance worldwide, with some very high-profile cases like the Urgenda Foundation case in the Netherlands. The list of 10 typical cases released by the SPP is intended to inspire Chinese prosecutors to take further actions to address climate change. They include cases focused on non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions, damage to natural carbon sinks, data falsification, and more. For instance, prosecutors of Shuyang County, Jiangsu Province, litigated a civil public interest case against a company that tampered with the parameters of its environmental monitoring facilities to illegally emit nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide, causing ecological damage amounting to CNY 6 million. The prosecutors supported the ecological damage compensation procedure by the local environmental bureau and urged the company to pay compensation fees and take measures.
China’s public interest prosecutors tend to operate in an understated manner, but they bring many thousands of cases every year—and the cumulative effect of these cases is transformative. Over 90% of the cases they bring are against government departments. In another recent typical case, prosecutors in Zhidan County, Shaanxi Province, urged local governments’ environmental departments to perform their supervisory duties on boil-off gas (BOG) generated from transport tankers. Methane, the main component of BOG, is one of the primary greenhouse gases and contributes significantly to climate change.
After the pre-litigation consultation with prosecutors, local governmental departments jointly issued the Work Plan to Further Strengthen the Management of BOG Discharge from LNG Transportation Vehicles. Within a year, local public security authorities and environmental departments carried out several rounds of joint enforcement inspections under the supervision of prosecutors to ensure that there were no illegal BOG emissions from transport tankers.
In the coming months and years, we expect prosecutors to bring thousands of climate-related cases, which will impact the way important decisions are made at all levels in China, including local government planning decisions and approvals for high-emission projects, state-owned company investment decisions and operational policies, private-sector business decisions, and the management of natural carbon sinks, etc. This could mark a new phase in China’s climate governance, with the law playing an increasingly important role.
To note, Huang Runqiu, China’s Minister of Ecology and Environment, went on an environmental inspection tour last week to check on pollution control in industrial enterprises. Data falsification and illegal emissions were discovered, and local prosecutors might quickly follow up. In addition to the mentioned climate cases, on June 6, the SPP released 10 typical cases of prosecutors supporting central environmental inspections. It is promising that prosecutors will bring more climate cases concerning disciplinary inspections like this one.
ClientEarth is a key environmental partner of the SPP, and we have suggested that China’s public interest prosecutors are in a strong position to contribute to China’s climate transition. In past years, we have held joint seminars, supported overseas visits, conducted a joint study on preventive environmental public interest litigation, and provided reference materials on public interest litigation on climate change, including a booklet of 10 landmark climate cases from around the world.
The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of CCICED.
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In Chinese:
中国检察官发布气候案件
——释放鼓励检察官支持国家碳达峰工作的重要信号
龙迪，范丹婷，蒋博雅
作为其2022-2023年“减污降碳扩绿增长协同机制专题研究”的重要内容，中国环境与发展国际合作委员会正在研究中国检察官如何通过公益诉讼支持气候目标的实现。
6月5日，最高人民检察院第一次发布了“检察机关服务保障碳达峰碳中和典型案例”。这是迄今为止最明确的信号，鼓励全国各级检察机关积极为实现碳达峰碳中和目标发挥自身作用。
2018年至2022年间，中国检察官已经提起了约40万起环境公益诉讼：检察公益诉讼制度作为中国特有的制度，自2017年正式实施以来，在全国范围内推进环境法律落实方面发挥了关键作用。2021年9月，张雪樵副检察长在马赛举行的国际自然保护联盟（IUCN）会议上发言时提到，“中国的检察机关正在积极探索气候变化公益诉讼”。今年早些时候，最高人民法院发布了气候相关案件的指导性文件，进一步为检察气候诉讼畅通了渠道。
如荷兰Urgenda案等引人注目的气候诉讼正在为世界各地的气候治理做出重要贡献。此次最高人民检察院发布的10个典型案例，旨在激励中国检察官采取进一步行动应对气候变化。这些案例包括专注于非二氧化碳温室气体排放、对自然碳汇的破坏、数据造假等案件类型。 例如，江苏省沭阳县检察院对一家公司提起民事公益诉讼，该公司篡改环境监测设施参数，非法排放氮氧化物和二氧化硫，造成生态损失高达人民币600万元。检察官支持当地生态环境局启动的生态损害赔偿程序，敦促该公司支付赔偿费用并采取整改措施。
中国的公益检察官往往以低调的方式运作，但他们每年都会提起成千上万的案件，产生变革性的累积效应。检察官提起的案件中90%以上是针对政府部门的。在此次发布的另一个典型案例中，陕西省志丹县的检察官敦促当地政府的环保部门履行对运输槽车产生的气化天然气（BOG）的监管职责。BOG的主要成分甲烷是主要的温室气体之一，对加剧气候变化具有很大影响。
在与检察机关召开诉前磋商会议后，当地行政机关联合发布了《进一步加强液化天然气运输车辆乱排乱放BOG整治工作方案》。此后一年内，当地公安机关和生态环境部门在检察机关的监督下开展了多轮联合执法检查，确保运输槽车没有违法排放BOG。
在未来的几个月乃至几年里，我们预计检察官将提起数以千计的气候相关案件，这将对中国各级政府机关的重大决策产生深远影响。例如，地方政府对高排放项目的决策与审批、国有公司的投资与运营政策、私营部门的商业决策和对自然碳汇的管理等。这可能标志着中国已经迈向气候治理的新阶段，法律将发挥越来越重要的作用。
值得注意的是，中国生态环境部部长黄润秋上周进行了一次环境巡视，对工业企业的污染控制情况进行了检查。巡视中发现了数据造假和非法排放等问题，当地检察机关可能会迅速跟进督促整改。除了上述气候案例，6月6日，最高人民检察院发布了检察公益诉讼协同推进中央生态环境保护督察整改10个典型案例。检察机关有望在类似这样的环境督察中提起更多的气候案件。
克莱恩斯欧洲环保协会是最高人民检察院重要的环境合作伙伴之一。我们曾提出，检察官在促进中国气候转型方面处于有利地位。在过去的几年里，我们举办了联合研讨会，支持海外访问，开展了关于预防性环境公益诉讼的联合研究，提供了关于气候公益诉讼的参考资料，包括一本遴选自世界各地的应对气候变化十佳诉讼案例。