Exploring the Road to the Law-Based Green …
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service and execution to case information sharing, optimization of resource allocation, case linkage, judicial services, and uniform judgment standards. There are many
problems with the judicial cooperation mechanism of the Yangtze River Economic
Belt, such as insufficient legislative support, jurisdictional disputes in cross-regional
environmental cases, poor information exchange, inconsistent judgment standards
for regional environmental cases, and obstacles to the collection of evidence in crossregional cases. Without a specialized and effective judicial coordination mechanism,
it is difficult to effectively guide and regulate the green development of the Yangtze
River Economic Belt.
4. The dilemma facing the environmental governance system
Governance refers to the sum of the many ways the public and private sectors manage
their common affairs. The governance of the Yangtze River Economic Belt used to
rely on direct government control: the powers were allocated and environmental
issues tackled by administrative means, resulting in the little participation of social
organizations, enterprises and the public. But the status of the ecological environment is directly related to the public’s own interests, and blind reliance on government control only makes it difficult to maximize the effect of environmental governance. The government is responsible for not only environmental governance, but
also economic development and for improving the people’s living standards. Thus
it is inevitable to weigh the loss and gains of governance, and sometimes environmental benefits are sacrificed for economic benefits. In contrast, under the green
development model, in pursuit of development we must safeguard the red line of
ecological protection, and economic benefits must come at the expense of ecological
value. This raises higher requirements for the environmental governance system.
3 Measures for Promoting Law-Based Green Development
in the Yangtze River Economic Belt
General Secretary Xi Jinping once emphasized that “to promote the development of
the Yangtze River Economic Belt, we must consider the long-term interests of the
nation, take the path of green development by prioritizing ecological conservation,
and keep our Mother River running clean forever.” In recent years, the central government has rolled out the top-level design based on the “Outline of the Yangtze River
Economic Belt Development Plan” and supported by the “Environmental Protection
Plan of the Yangtze River Economic Belt” and other special plans. But promoting
the green development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt should be a systematic
project. It requires not only the change in mindset of the government, enterprises,
and society, but also specific institutional reforms and relevant supporting measures.
The Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization has made it clearly to “apply the
strictest system to protect the ecological environment.” The rule of law is an important
means to accelerate and effectively guarantee the modernization of the government’s
681
service and execution to case information sharing, optimization of resource allocation, case linkage, judicial services, and uniform judgment standards. There are many
problems with the judicial cooperation mechanism of the Yangtze River Economic
Belt, such as insufficient legislative support, jurisdictional disputes in cross-regional
environmental cases, poor information exchange, inconsistent judgment standards
for regional environmental cases, and obstacles to the collection of evidence in crossregional cases. Without a specialized and effective judicial coordination mechanism,
it is difficult to effectively guide and regulate the green development of the Yangtze
River Economic Belt.
4. The dilemma facing the environmental governance system
Governance refers to the sum of the many ways the public and private sectors manage
their common affairs. The governance of the Yangtze River Economic Belt used to
rely on direct government control: the powers were allocated and environmental
issues tackled by administrative means, resulting in the little participation of social
organizations, enterprises and the public. But the status of the ecological environment is directly related to the public’s own interests, and blind reliance on government control only makes it difficult to maximize the effect of environmental governance. The government is responsible for not only environmental governance, but
also economic development and for improving the people’s living standards. Thus
it is inevitable to weigh the loss and gains of governance, and sometimes environmental benefits are sacrificed for economic benefits. In contrast, under the green
development model, in pursuit of development we must safeguard the red line of
ecological protection, and economic benefits must come at the expense of ecological
value. This raises higher requirements for the environmental governance system.
3 Measures for Promoting Law-Based Green Development
in the Yangtze River Economic Belt
General Secretary Xi Jinping once emphasized that “to promote the development of
the Yangtze River Economic Belt, we must consider the long-term interests of the
nation, take the path of green development by prioritizing ecological conservation,
and keep our Mother River running clean forever.” In recent years, the central government has rolled out the top-level design based on the “Outline of the Yangtze River
Economic Belt Development Plan” and supported by the “Environmental Protection
Plan of the Yangtze River Economic Belt” and other special plans. But promoting
the green development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt should be a systematic
project. It requires not only the change in mindset of the government, enterprises,
and society, but also specific institutional reforms and relevant supporting measures.
The Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization has made it clearly to “apply the
strictest system to protect the ecological environment.” The rule of law is an important
means to accelerate and effectively guarantee the modernization of the government’s