Sun Youhai, Professor at Tianjin University Law School: Providing legislative support for accelerating comprehensive green transformation

Recently, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the "Opinions on Accelerating the Comprehensive Green Transformation of Economic and Social Development"(hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions"), proposing to promote green transformation in all aspects, fields and regions, and put forward clear requirements for relevant legislative work.

Promoting green and low-carbon economic and social development is a key link in achieving high-quality development, a basic strategy to solve my country's resource and environmental problems, and an inherent requirement for building a harmonious coexistence and modernization between man and nature. Our country has long established resource conservation and environmental protection as basic national policies. Promoting comprehensive green transformation involves all aspects of economic and social development. We must make overall planning and systematic deployment to better play the role of the rule of law in consolidating the foundation, stabilizing expectations, and benefiting the long term.

Good laws are the prerequisite for good governance. At present, my country has more than 30 laws, more than 100 administrative regulations, and more than 1000 local regulations in the field of ecological environment. It has formed a comprehensive, pragmatic, effective, and strict ecological and environmental protection legal system. Under the strong protection of a series of laws and regulations, my country has unswervingly followed the path of civilized development of production development, affluent life, and good ecology, and has taken major steps in promoting green and low-carbon development.

Faced with new situations and new tasks, it is necessary to keep pace with the times to strengthen legal protection, accelerate the improvement of laws and regulations related to green transformation, so as to better adapt to the new needs of comprehensive green transformation for the legal system, and ensure that all work has laws to follow and rules to follow. The "Opinions" put forward a series of legislative tasks to accelerate the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development, pointing out the direction for the construction of my country's environmental resources and energy legal system in the future.

The "Opinions" clearly propose to accelerate the formulation of an ecological environment code. Compiling an ecological environment code is an arduous legislative task and systematic project. It is a codified way to systematically integrate, compile, integrate and sublimate the current ecological environment legal system norms, which helps to further enhance the system of the ecological environment legal system. Sex, integrity, synergy, and timeliness. At present, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress is actively promoting the compilation of the Ecological Environment Code and strives to submit it for review within the year. This means that my country's environmental protection legal system will be more adapted to the actual needs of ecological civilization construction, better assist the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development, and be more conducive to building a beautiful China.

Energy is the basic support for economic and social development. Energy security and security are related to the national economy and people's livelihood. They are the "greatest of the country" that cannot be ignored for a moment. Our country is a major energy consumer. The energy system is highly dependent on fossil energy such as coal. There is great pressure on the transformation of the production and living system to green and low-carbon. Promoting the construction of a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient energy system is inseparable from the protection of the rule of law. The Energy Law is the backbone project to realize the legalization of energy. After years of hard work, my country has successively promulgated several separate laws in the energy field such as the Electricity Law and the Coal Law. However, there are still problems such as the absence of basic energy laws, conflicts between separate laws and policy documents, and inadequate energy market supervision. To this end, deputies to the National People's Congress have repeatedly proposed proposals to specifically formulate an energy law to better play the core role of the law in adjusting the interests of all parties in the energy field and coordinating my country's energy work. The "Opinions" also specifically pointed out that the formulation of the Energy Law must be accelerated. At present, the Energy Law has been included in the 2024 legislative plan of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. In addition, the "Opinions" also clearly require the accelerated revision of laws and regulations such as the Energy Conservation Law, Electricity Law, Coal Law, Renewable Energy Law, and Circular Economy Promotion Law. The formulation, revision and improvement of the above laws and regulations will surely further promote the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development.

In 2020, my country made a solemn commitment to the international community to strive to achieve carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. Strategic emerging industries led by the "double carbon" goal have increasingly become green engines for my country's high-quality development and have also made important contributions to global climate governance. At the same time, we must fully realize the challenges our country is currently facing and use a more complete legal system as a guarantee for green development. The "Opinions" require research and formulation of special laws to deal with climate change and carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. To this end, it is necessary to pass legislation to clarify the basic principles, management systems, strategic planning, mitigation and adaptation measures, supervision and management, and legal responsibilities for achieving the "double carbon" goal, and incorporate carbon emission standards, carbon emission accounting, carbon emission monitoring, and carbon emissions Key systems such as rights trading are included to provide a clear legal basis for effectively responding to climate change and achieving the "double carbon" goal.

Comprehensive green transformation is an extensive and profound economic and social change. The deepening of reform and the development of undertakings will inevitably require the protection of the rule of law. It is believed that the continuous development and improvement of my country's environmental resources and energy legal system will surely play a greater role in promoting the formation of spatial layout, industrial structure, production methods and lifestyles that are conducive to resource conservation and environmental protection, and in safeguarding green, low-carbon and high-quality development.

The author is a professor at the Law School of Tianjin University and director of the Academic Committee of the Environmental Resources Law Research Society of the Chinese Law Society