Abstract

Smallpeasantsystem,gradualurbanizationandthepracticemechanismofChinesepathtomodernization

XIAZhuzhi

Abstract: Chinese path to modernization is the modernization of a country with a huge population and the modernization of pursuing common prosperity for all people, which is fully reflected in the gradual urbanization order with Chinese characteristics based on the small farmer system. Since the reform and opening up, China′s industrialization and urbanization have been rapidly advancing, and the relationship between urban and rural areas has been constantly adjusted, forming a smallholder system with small farmers as the main body and institutional guarantee, the latest embodiment of which is the rural revitalization strategy and its supporting Rural Revitalization Promotion Law. The stability of the smallholder system has a profound impact on the logic of farmers′ flow, forming a "gradual urbanization" order with Chinese characteristics, which is manifested in many mechanisms with transitional characteristics: "half work and half farming" of farmers′ family income, "urban and rural dual habitat" of living pattern, and "both urban and rural" of identity. From a practical point of view, it is particularly necessary to be vigilant about the radical urbanization driven by the government, which artificially accelerates farmers′ entry into cities through capital going to the countryside and land transfer, and dissolves the smallholder system.

ResearchonTheApplicationofPunitiveDamagesinTortLiabilityResultingfromClimateChangeunderTheoryofInterpretation

XIEHongfei,OUDajing

Abstract: The climate litigation caused by carbon emission can apply the environmental damage tort liability based on theCivilCode. The subject of responsibility is the carbon emission entity, and the subject who has the right to claim includes not only a single civil subject whose property rights or personality rights have been damaged, but also a specific right subject who can claim climate change tort liability through public interest litigation. In climate change tort liability, the application of punitive damages can be justified and considered necessary, but a modest and prudent attitude should still be uphold. In climate change tort public interest litigation, the application of punitive damages has legislative and judicial legitimacy. In flight of the findings above, there is legal basis for the application of the comparative negligence rule in the punitive damages caused by general climate change tort litigation, while there is hardly any room for the comparative negligence rule to be applied to the punitive damages in climate change tort public interest litigation.

TheInstitutionalEvidenceandLegislativeArrangementofIntegratingCarbonTaxintoEnvironmentalProtectionTaxundertheThresholdof"DoubleCarbon":BasedontheRevisionoftheEnvironmentalProtectionTaxLaw

YEJinyu,MENGSiying

Abstract: To deal with environmental problems and adhere to green development, the "double carbon" target is an important choice for China. "Double carbon" is not yet complete, the carbon emission trading market has weak local regulations, and there is no financial and taxation system to regulate carbon emissions, it leaves a huge space and potential for the optimization policy of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. In addition to addressing the threat of carbon tariffs from developed countries, the creation of a carbon tax system will enhance A China′s taxation policy system and coordinate with carbon emissions trading, thereby responding effectively to the demand from China for fiscal policies that promote the "double carbon" objective. Developing a carbon tax system that adheres to legal principles and takes into account social realities is a complex process that requires balancing the three-dimensional factors of policy direction, social acceptability, and legislative costs, as well as performing a comparative analysis of "separate," "integrated," and "comprehensive" legislative approaches. It is important to analyze the carbon tax system in a comparable manner. A carbon tax system should also be compatible with environmental protection tax, resource tax, and consumption tax, with the ideal solution being to integrate carbon tax into environmental protection tax. As a result of this amendment, greenhouse gases can be included as a new tax item under theEnvironmentalProtectionTaxLaw. Additionally, it will also construct a transitional tax rate and tax basis scheme. This will clarify the phased exclusion of tax subjects and the prudent application of tax incentives, while simultaneously modifying the schedule to reflect these changes.

OnPublicAccesstoNaturalResources:ShiftingPathsandConstructingRights

YEWenping,WANGYixin

Abstract: Publicly shared natural resources play the role of a "stage" in the process of people′s interaction with each other, and are the territory and space for people to connect and engage with nature. However, the current legal system in China emphasizes administrative control over the public use of natural resources, while neglecting the public right to the reasonable use of natural resources and its protection. In order to alleviate the tension between people′s pursuit of a better environment and the administrative control of shared natural resources, it is necessary to restructure the order of public use of shared natural resources with the "public right to use shared natural resources" as the core. The construction of a "public right of access to natural resources" is a value-based aspiration of ecological civilisation and the construction of the rule of law, and a legal path to fully protect public interest in the sharing of natural resources. The essence of this right is the qualification, freedom, power and benefit of non-exclusive use of the public common natural resources by an unspecified majority of people, which is an independent and new type of right with public-oriented personality and constitutional status. In terms of the legal basis, the right to use natural resources for public use can be renewed through the path of constitutional interpretation, the expression of "rights" in the civil code and the systematic interpretation of "environmental rights" in environmental law as two wings.

SystematicConstruction:AnnualObservationReportonEnvironmentalLegislationinChina(2022)

LIUChangxing

Abstract: The basic characteristic of the development of China′s environmental legislation in 2022 is systematization. The codification of the environmental code coming into the official view has brought about a surge of research on the systematization of environmental law and has substantially influenced the thinking pattern and content of environmental legislation. The environmental legislation at national level shows an obvious feature of systematization. The enactment of two environmental laws and the revision of one environmental law have promoted the systematization of environmental laws at different levels, and the systematic characteristics of the system have been highlighted. There are a number of newly issued environmental judicial interpretations and environmental departmental regulations, which have played an important role in the development and improvement of the environmental legal system. The recent experience of national environmental legislation can provide reference for the codification of environmental code and reflect the issues of legislative scope and the division of legislative and judicial powers that need to be considered in environmental codification. The activity of local environmental legislation decreases compared to 2021, but the types and key areas of legislation remain basically the same, and some new areas and systems of legislation have also emerged; meanwhile, the issues of the division of legislative power, selection of legislative themes, and institutional coordination in local environmental legislation deserve attention and should be gradually resolved by applying the idea of systematic development of environmental law. In 2022, environmental legislation research still focuses on the codification of environmental code and reflects on the main environmental legal system under the systematization idea, and there are also many achievements in the research and analysis about environmental legislation itself. The long-held decentralized legislation approach of China′s environmental legislation is changing, and the trend of systematized development of environmental law has become clear.

OnRealisticProblemsandNormativePathofRuleof"ImpunityfortheFirstViolation"inEcologicalEnvironment

CHENCheng

Abstract: The application of the rule of “impunity for the first violation” in the ecological environment is still in its infancy in China. It not only conformsto the basic value orientation of the rule, but also concretely manifests theinternal requirements of ecological environment law enforcement reformand the principle of liability for damages. The rule needs to be fully considered when designing the standards. Judging from the existing practice, the applicationof the rule in China′ s ecological environment hasproblems such as low level of legislative norms, different standards in different regions, confusion between “impunity for the first violation” and “impunity for minor conseqences”, and it is facing dilemmas such as difficulty to balance the environmental interests of all parties and restricting administrative discretion. It is urgent to clarify the connotation of the elements of “first violation”, “minor consequences of harm” and “timely correction”, and improve them from aspects of improving relevant legislation, clarifying the constituent elements, clarifying the discretion, and standardizing the law enforcement procedures.

IndividualEnvironmentalInactionunderEconomicGrowthLogic:AComprehensiveResearchFramework

WANGYan

Abstract: Individual environmental behavior is an important approach through which people participate in environmental protection. It also constitutes the social basis of environmental governance. However, empirical studies find that individuals often do not participate in environmental behavior, resulting in environmental inaction despite the pressure of environmental degradation. Drawing upon studies of political economy, the review article addresses this issue by examining the mechanisms and possible solutions of individual environmental inaction at the institutional, interpersonal, and individual levels in modern society. The current research shows that the pursuit of economic growth has led to provision systems and institutional arrangement dominated by economic rationality, constructed environmentally insensitive social norms and interpersonal networks, and shaped individuals′ environmentally unfriendly preferences and habits. These factors interact with each other across different levels and together influence individual environmental behavior. Therefore, the solutions to individual environmental inaction should systematically consider these factors by improving both external conditions and internal motivation, and embedding the discourses and practices of environmental protection in everyday life.

ProblemsandProspectsofRuralLivingEnvironmentGovernanceundertheContextofRuralRevitalization:CaseinYangtzeRiverDeltaRegion

LIUPingyang,YUANYunzhi

Abstract: With the comprehensive implementation of the national strategy of rural revitalization, China′s rural living environment governance has also shifted from infrastructure construction stage oriented to pollution treatment to long term management stage oriented to overall environmental improvement, and faces higher demands and new challenges. This paper takes the Yangtze River Delta region, where rural living environment governance started earlier with greater investment and more advanced progress, as an example, to explain the diverse connotation of rural living environment governance and its dynamic evolution, and constructs an analytical framework from five dimensions: governance subject, governance object, governance scope, governance goal and governance means, to explain the stage characteristics and main challenges of rural living environment in the Yangtze River Delta under the dual influence of rural revitalization and urbanization process. It′s argued that rural living environment governance in the new era needs to promote multi-governance; strengthen demand orientation and planning guidance; build a collaborative governance mechanism with synergy between top and bottom, internal and external, and among multiple goals; enhance market participation and technology empowerment; and finally contribute to a comprehensive rural living environment governance system with fairness in sharing rights and responsibilities, efficiency in public financial investment, and sustainability of governance system as the core.