A socialist legal system for ecological and environmental protection with Chinese characteristics has taken shape

On November 30, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment held a regular press conference for November. At the press conference, Zhao Ke, Director of the Department of Regulations and Standards of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, answered questions from reporters on issues related to the construction of the rule of law in the ecological environment.

Zhao Ke said that the results of the legislation should be said to be very remarkable. This has to go back to Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law and Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. There is a sentence that we are all familiar with, insisting on protecting the ecological environment with the strictest system and the strictest rule of law, which is one of the core meanings of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, and it is also a great achievement and experience summary of our ecological civilization construction. At the conference on ecological and environmental protection held this year, General Secretary Xi Jinping said "4561", and in the "five experience summaries", a very important part of which is closely related to the rule of law in our ecological environment.

Zhao Ke introduced that General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that to promote the construction of ecological civilization, we must correctly handle the relationship between external constraints and endogenous power, and always adhere to the strictest system and the strictest rule of law to protect the ecological environment and maintain normalized external pressure. The political oath needs to be implemented by law, and the lessons learned need to be carried forward. Therefore, we implement the instructions and requirements of General Secretary Xi Jinping, in terms of ecological and environmental protection legislation, we must adhere to the people-centered, comply with the people's growing needs for a beautiful ecological environment, strive to improve the quality of legislation, enrich the form of legislation, accelerate the pace of legislation, and promote the continuous improvement of the legal system of ecological environment. Now there is a basic evaluation, which was put forward by the National People's Congress: the socialist ecological and environmental protection legal system with Chinese characteristics has been initially formed, and it is described in three words: comprehensive, pragmatic and effective, strict and rigorous, and it should be said that this evaluation is pertinent.

Zhao Ke said that specifically, it mainly includes the following most important aspects:

First, the Constitution. Three days later, on December 4th, we celebrate our 10th Constitution Day, and we have a series of commemorative activities. When we were in elementary school, we learned that the Constitution is the fundamental law of the country, which stipulates the basic political system of the country and also stipulates the basic rights and obligations of citizens. For ecological civilization, the 2018 revision of the Constitution includes the new development concept, the construction of ecological civilization, and the construction of a beautiful China. The Constitution provides the most fundamental constitutional guidance for the establishment of our ecological and environmental legal system, which is the most solid foundation for our ecological and environmental legislative work.

Second, basic laws. Previously, we had a "teeth-grown" environmental protection law, which stipulated innovative environmental protection concepts, strengthened political responsibility, improved the regulatory system, and increased punishment, which made a major breakthrough when it was revised in 2014. This year, the compilation of the ecological code will be carried out, and this code will be the final review by the National People's Congress, rather than the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, which is a higher level like the Environmental Protection Law and other single laws. The ecological code is a basic law with stronger force. In addition to the Constitution, there are also basic laws such as criminal law and civil law, and the ecological and environmental code is also included in one of the basic laws of our country, which is examined and approved by the National People's Congress.

Third, the unitary law. The single law we passed this year is the Marine Environmental Protection Law, and before that, there were noise, solid waste, soil, water, and atmosphere, and since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the laws in the field of ecology and environment have basically been revised. This is our focus on the outstanding environmental issues that the people feel most deeply and urgently demand, and we will intensify the revision of the law. Through this round of formulation and revision, all fields in the field of ecology and environment have basically achieved laws to follow, providing a strong legal guarantee for fighting the tough battle of pollution prevention and control.

Fourth, the new Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Ecological Protection Law promulgated this year is related to this, that is, the innovation of river basin and regional ecological and environmental legislation. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Ecological and Environmental Protection Law, the Black Soil Protection Law, the Yangtze River Protection Law, and the Yellow River Protection Law are all laws that belong to special regional river basins. Through these legislations, the ecological value of lucid waters and lush mountains will be comprehensively enhanced. In addition, we also support the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei legislation on the prevention and control of emissions from motor vehicles and non-road mobile machinery, as well as legislation on the atmosphere. We also support legislation in the Yangtze River Delta and Baiyangdian basins, as well as coordinated legislation on the Chishui River in Yunnan-Guizhou-Sichuan, and coordinated legislation on the Sichuan-Chongqing-Jialing River in Sichuan and Chongqing. Through these legislations, cross-regional ecological and environmental problems will be solved and high-quality development of the region will be promoted.

Zhao Ke introduced that the next step will continue to implement the decision-making and deployment of the Party Central Committee, and coordinate the promotion of the formulation and revision of relevant laws and regulations in the field of ecology and environment.

The first is to fully cooperate with the National People's Congress, compile the ecological and environmental code, and promote the resolution of problems such as inadaptability, incoordination, and inconsistency in the implementation of the law.

The second is to actively promote the interim regulations on the management of carbon emission trading and the regulations on the monitoring and management of the ecological environment.

The third is to promote the coordination of laws and regulations to further enhance the overall effectiveness of the legal system.