China records sustained drop in environmental disputes

China has experienced a sustained decline in environmental disputes and has cemented its status as the leading authority with the most extensive coverage of adjudication institutions in this field, an official from the country's top court said.

From June 2014 to December 2024, Chinese courts concluded 2.28 million first-instance environmental cases, with a consistent decrease observed since 2021, Yang Linping, vice-president of the Supreme People's Court, said on Saturday in Guiyang, Guizhou province.

She said at a sub-forum, which was part of the Eco Forum Global Guiyang 2025, focused on how judicial services can contribute to reducing carbon emissions, controlling pollution, expanding green development, and promoting economic growth. It attracted over 260 domestic and foreign guests.

Yang said that Chinese courts currently have more than 2,400 specialized organizations dedicated to handling environmental cases, solidifying the nation's position as the global leader in terms of both the broadest coverage and most extensive system of environment resource adjudication institutions.

While establishing the specialized teams, the top court has also formulated and issued a number of judicial documents to bolster the battle against pollution and illegal mining, providing strong protection for biodiversity, the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, national parks, farmland, and cultural heritage sites.

"China has made remarkable strides in environmental conservation over the past decades. It has been consistently refining environmental laws, bolstering enforcement mechanisms, and fortifying judicial capabilities, resulting in the establishment of a robust and comprehensive framework for environmental rule of law," Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, assistant secretary-general of United Nations, said at the sub-forum via video link.

Mrema, who is also deputy executive director of United Nations Environment Programme, added that they will further increase cooperation with China's Supreme People's Court to advance environmental rule of law by focusing on information exchange, case sharing, and capacity building for judges, in order to jointly promote sustainable development and environmental justice.

Wu Zhaoxiang, chief judge of the top court's Environment and Resources Division, cited data showing that Chinese courts, from 2014 to June this year, concluded more than 620 cases involving new types of carbon market trading and nearly 60,000 first-instance lawsuits related to pollution control.

During the period, Chinese judges also resolved almost 340,000 first-instance cases concerning ecological protection and more than 660,000 first-instance disputes involving resource and energy utilization, said Wu.

He said that these figures have not only shown the efficient handling of cases by Chinese courts around the goals of reducing carbon emission, fighting pollution, expanding green development and promoting growth, but also highlighted their active application of judicial measures to restore the environment.