Hunting a hare, he subscribed for 1500 yuan in carbon sinks to compensate for ecological and environmental losses

Recently, the People's Court of Changyang Tujia Autonomous County in Hubei Province accepted an illegal hunting case. The defendant voluntarily subscribed for a carbon sink of 1500 yuan to compensate for the ecological and environmental losses caused. This is the first carbon sink subscription certificate issued by Hubei Province.

This forestry carbon sink subscription is the first case in the province to subscribe provincial forestry carbon sinks (carbon coupons) instead of fulfilling the liability for ecological and environmental damage. It is also the first case in Yichang City after introducing forestry carbon coupons into the ecological and environmental damage restoration compensation mechanism."Forestry carbon sink + Ecological Justice" restoration case.

In August 2023, the defendant Xiang Xiang used an earth blaster to kill a rabbit for food in a field near his home in Langping Town, Changyang County. According to the "Notice of the People's Government of Changyang Tujia Autonomous County on Comprehensive Prohibition of Hunting of Terrestrial Wild Animals", all administrative areas under the jurisdiction of Changyang Tujia Autonomous County are designated as no hunting areas, and the hunting ban period is the whole year. The hunting tools used by Xiang are hunting tools explicitly prohibited by law. After identification, the wild animal hunted by Xiang was a Mongolian rabbit, which belongs to the terrestrial wild animal of important ecological, scientific and social value protected by the state (referred to as "Sanyou Animals").

After education and persuasion from forestry, judicial and other departments, and at the same time, the concept of forestry carbon sinks and the legal basis and necessity of forestry carbon sink restoration were explained to the defendant, the parties fully realized the damage to the ecological environment caused by their own actions and voluntarily subscribed for forestry carbon sinks (carbon coupons) fulfill their ecological environment restoration obligations.

On June 21, Hubei Province's first forestry carbon ticket was officially issued. Forestry carbon coupons refer to the certificate of income rights from carbon emission reductions in forest lands with clear ownership. The certificate converts the carbon emission reductions in the forest into a tradable and pledging securities, so it has market value and financial attributes. The Changyang Forestry Bureau issued a commission to a third-party agency, and the third-party agency calculated that the amount of forestry carbon sinks that should be purchased from a certain person was 16.18 tons. Based on the market carbon emission trading price of that day, the subscription amount of forestry carbon sinks that should be paid to a certain person was 1500 yuan.

"Illegal hunting not only damages the wild animals themselves, but also damages the forest ecosystem. The value loss to the ecological environment is much greater than the animals involved in the case. Paying compensation for the ecological environment 'carbon sink' is an alternative restoration of the ecological environment. It is conducive to the overall protection of ecological and environmental resources." The prosecutor handling the case introduced.

Changyang is a county with large forestry resources and the third batch of national low-carbon city pilots. The county has a forest area of 2517 square kilometers and a forest coverage rate of 73.60%. In recent years, the county has implemented a new model of social and economic development in mountainous areas that "promotes GDP growth with GEP (Total Value of Ecological Products)", giving full play to the role of forest carbon sinks, exploring forestry carbon sinks, and promoting the pilot of "forestry carbon sinks + ecological justice"., the first forestry carbon ticket in Hubei Province was born.

At the beginning of 2024, the "Yichang City Pilot Work Plan for Implementing Ecological Environment Restoration and Applying Forestry Carbon Sinks to Compensation for Ecological Environment Damage in Cases of Damage to Forest Resources" was issued, and Changyang became one of the pilot counties. According to the requirements of the pilot work, Changyang established a collaborative innovation mechanism of "forestry carbon sink + ecological justice". By subscribing forestry carbon sinks to replace the trial of ecological restoration, this mechanism guides infringers to transform from "destroyers" of the ecological environment to "restorers" on the one hand; on the other hand, it guides citizens to subscribe for forestry carbon sinks and participate in ecological and environmental protection. Build and jointly manage and share green and beautiful homes. According to reports, the Changyang People's Court has guided illegal personnel to subscribe for forestry carbon coupons to compensate for the loss of ecological and environmental service functions in two illegal hunting cases.

The application of the "forestry carbon sink + ecological justice" compensation mechanism is an important institutional innovation and a concrete manifestation of the innovation of ecological civilization concepts in the judicial field. At present, Changyang and Zigui in Hubei Province, as pilot counties, are actively exploring methods of compensation and restoration for ecological and environmental damage, constantly improving the value realization mechanism of ecological products, further promoting the institutionalization and effectiveness of forestry carbon sink compensation work, and enriching the methods of fulfilling ecological and environmental damage compensation liability., help achieve the "double carbon" strategic goal.