24
Z. Lv
legal system roughly took shape with the Environmental Protection Law at the core
and pollution prevention and control and natural resources protection laws as the
backbone, supplemented by environmental protection regulations promulgated by
the relevant authorities. By 2013, China had promulgated four comprehensive environmental protection laws, six environmental pollution prevention laws, 13 natural
resources and ecological protection laws, two laws on the promotion of cleaner
production and circular economy, and two laws on sustainable use and development
of energy. In addition, about 10 civil, criminal, administrative and economic legislations contained stipulations related to environmental protection. The State Council
has enacted more than 60 environmental administrative regulations. The relevant
departments of the State Council promulgated over 600 environmental administrative regulations and more than 1200 national environmental standards. Third, the
environmental governance system and relevant mechanisms gradually took shape.
In 1982, it was decided at the 23rd meeting of the Standing Committee of the
Fifth National People’s Congress to set up the Environmental Protection Bureau
under the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development and Environmental Protection. In the three rounds of national institutional reforms, the national authority
for environmental governance changed from the National Environmental Protection
Bureau to the State Environmental Protection Administration to the Ministry of Environmental Protection. In the meanwhile, eight systems of environmental management (the construction project environmental impact assessment system, the “three
simultaneous” system, the pollutant discharge fee management system, the environmental protection target management system, the quantitative assessment system
for comprehensive urban environmental improvement, the pollution permits system,
centralized pollution control system, and the pollution remediation system) gradually
came into being. During this period, the Chinese government also adopted a series of
prevention and control measures with a focus on prevention, established the principle
that whoever caused the pollution shall bear the responsibility for pollution treatment and control, and rolled out an environmental management enhancement policy.
Fourth, dedicated local environmental courts and tribunals were established. In 2007,
the Guizhou Provincial Higher People’s Court gave approval for the establishment
of China’s first dedicated environment court, the Qingzhen Town Environmental
Protection Tribunal in Guiyang City. As of the end of 2013, more than 170 such
environmental courts, tribunals, and collegiate panels had been established across
the country, exploring ways and criteria for determining facts and applying laws
in environmental cases. Fifth, China began to actively participate in international
environmental governance. In 1992, the Chinese government sent a delegation to
attend the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development and signed
the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on the Protection of Biological Diversity. Before the conference, 41 environment ministers from
developing countries were invited to Beijing to discuss environmental issues and
they together released the Beijing Declaration, which clarified the common position
and propositions of developing countries on environmental issues. In 1994, China
became the first developing country to release a national sustainable development
agenda—China’s Agenda 21: White Paper on China’s Population, Environment and
Z. Lv
legal system roughly took shape with the Environmental Protection Law at the core
and pollution prevention and control and natural resources protection laws as the
backbone, supplemented by environmental protection regulations promulgated by
the relevant authorities. By 2013, China had promulgated four comprehensive environmental protection laws, six environmental pollution prevention laws, 13 natural
resources and ecological protection laws, two laws on the promotion of cleaner
production and circular economy, and two laws on sustainable use and development
of energy. In addition, about 10 civil, criminal, administrative and economic legislations contained stipulations related to environmental protection. The State Council
has enacted more than 60 environmental administrative regulations. The relevant
departments of the State Council promulgated over 600 environmental administrative regulations and more than 1200 national environmental standards. Third, the
environmental governance system and relevant mechanisms gradually took shape.
In 1982, it was decided at the 23rd meeting of the Standing Committee of the
Fifth National People’s Congress to set up the Environmental Protection Bureau
under the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development and Environmental Protection. In the three rounds of national institutional reforms, the national authority
for environmental governance changed from the National Environmental Protection
Bureau to the State Environmental Protection Administration to the Ministry of Environmental Protection. In the meanwhile, eight systems of environmental management (the construction project environmental impact assessment system, the “three
simultaneous” system, the pollutant discharge fee management system, the environmental protection target management system, the quantitative assessment system
for comprehensive urban environmental improvement, the pollution permits system,
centralized pollution control system, and the pollution remediation system) gradually
came into being. During this period, the Chinese government also adopted a series of
prevention and control measures with a focus on prevention, established the principle
that whoever caused the pollution shall bear the responsibility for pollution treatment and control, and rolled out an environmental management enhancement policy.
Fourth, dedicated local environmental courts and tribunals were established. In 2007,
the Guizhou Provincial Higher People’s Court gave approval for the establishment
of China’s first dedicated environment court, the Qingzhen Town Environmental
Protection Tribunal in Guiyang City. As of the end of 2013, more than 170 such
environmental courts, tribunals, and collegiate panels had been established across
the country, exploring ways and criteria for determining facts and applying laws
in environmental cases. Fifth, China began to actively participate in international
environmental governance. In 1992, the Chinese government sent a delegation to
attend the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development and signed
the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on the Protection of Biological Diversity. Before the conference, 41 environment ministers from
developing countries were invited to Beijing to discuss environmental issues and
they together released the Beijing Declaration, which clarified the common position
and propositions of developing countries on environmental issues. In 1994, China
became the first developing country to release a national sustainable development
agenda—China’s Agenda 21: White Paper on China’s Population, Environment and