A critical examination of environmental public interest litigation in China - reflection on China’s environmental authoritarianism

Abstract

Environmental public interest litigation is an innovative legal mechanism for humanity to address environmental crises. It not only addresses the tragedy of the commons in environmental crises but also serves as a crucial means for protecting the rights of environmentally vulnerable groups and upholding environmental justice. Over the past decade, the development of China’s environmental public interest litigation system has been promising. Thousands of such cases are filed each year, making a significant contribution to curbing the further deterioration of China’s environmental crisis. However, China still does not allow individual citizens to initiate environmental public interest litigation, and there are significant hurdles for environmental NGOs to file such lawsuits. As a result, the vast majority of environmental public interest litigation cases in China are initiated by procuratorates, which appears to be another important manifestation of China’s environmental authoritarianism. This institutional setup severely restricts the ability of China’s environmental vulnerable groups to protect their rights and masks many environmental issues that truly need improvement, hindering the realization of environmental justice. From a comparative perspective, compared to countries like the United States with more mature experiences in environmental public interest litigation, China’s system suffers from narrow subject qualifications, extensive restrictions on environmental NGOs, and excessive litigation costs. Even compared to India, another developing country, China’s environmental public interest litigation system appears conservative. Therefore, China’s environmental public interest litigation system urgently needs further reform and improvement.