As environmental crimes increasingly cross borders and threaten ecosystems, communities and sustainable development, prosecutors and experts called for stronger cooperation to close enforcement gaps and improve global environmental governance at a roundtable meeting in Beijing on Monday.
The meeting, themed "The Role of Prosecutors in Global Environmental Governance", gathered prosecutors and experts from more than a dozen countries and organizations for discussions on strengthening environmental enforcement, combating environmental crimes and protecting the public interest.
Participants said climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution and the illegal exploitation of natural resources are interconnected global challenges that cannot be solely addressed by any one country or institution. They called for closer judicial cooperation, information sharing and professional exchanges among prosecutors, courts, law enforcement agencies, civil society as well as international organizations.
Zhang Xueqiao, deputy prosecutor general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, said building a clean and beautiful world is both a Chinese initiative for global ecological civilization and an essential requirement for sustainable human development.
China has advanced ecological civilization through legislation, enforcement and judicial practice in recent years, he said, noting that the country's top legislature adopted the Ecological and Environmental Code in March.
Chinese procuratorial organs have placed ecological and environmental protection high on their agenda, using criminal, civil, administrative and public interest litigation functions to strengthen judicial protection. The SPP has launched public interest litigation campaigns involving major river basins, including the Yangtze, Yellow and Pearl rivers, and carried out supervision campaigns on hazardous waste crimes and green, low-carbon development.
In complex cross-regional cases, procuratorial organs have strengthened integrated case handling, cross-regional cooperation and the use of technologies such as satellite remote sensing, drones and rapid testing to improve evidence collection and damage assessment, he said.
Xu Xiangchun, head of the SPP's public interest litigation department, said procuratorial organs have handled more than 608,000 public interest litigation cases involving ecological and resource protection since July 2017, accounting for 47 percent of all such cases.
More than 90 percent of administrative public interest litigation cases were resolved before trial, he said, helping reduce judicial costs while encouraging administrative authorities to perform their duties.
Xu said procuratorial organs have also strengthened coordination with courts, the public and administrative departments including those responsible for water resources, ecology and environment, agriculture and rural affairs and forestry. The SPP also promoted public participation through a volunteer platform that has recruited 126,000 volunteers nationwide.
International participants said environmental governance requires stronger cross-border cooperation and more effective legal enforcement.
Hindenburgo Chateaubriand, deputy prosecutor general of Brazil, said environmental crimes do not stop at national borders and enforcement cannot be carried out by any single institution alone, making transnational judicial cooperation an important priority for prosecutors.
He said China is currently Brazil's largest export market for agricultural and livestock products, with large volumes of trade in key commodities such as beef, adding that the deep economic ties between the two countries also create favorable conditions for closer cooperation in social development, environmental protection and sustainability.
Trade growth should go hand in hand with ecological and climate protection, he said. Brazil has taken steps to strengthen regulation in the beef industry and plans to extend supervision to supply chains such as soybeans to build greener and more resilient systems.
Elizabeth Mrema, assistant secretary-general of the United Nations, said China has made inspiring progress in environmental legislation, enforcement and jurisprudence. She said China's public interest litigation system offers important innovations and lessons, with prosecutors playing a key role in closing the gap between environmental laws and their implementation.
She also noted that China's Ecological and Environmental Code is an important development not only for China but also for the region and the world, as it reflects a broader trend of modernizing environmental legal frameworks to respond to increasingly complex environmental challenges.
Adam Weiss, chief programmes and impact officer at environmental law organization ClientEarth, said China's experience has become an important reference model for many countries seeking more effective legal and institutional responses to environmental challenges.
While environmental laws and policies continue to develop around the world, effective implementation and enforcement remain essential, he said. Prosecutors have a unique role in ensuring compliance, pursuing accountability for environmental harm and safeguarding the public interest.
Participants noted that dialogue among prosecutors and other justice actors can help countries share good practices, improve enforcement capacity and better implement international environmental commitments.
Zhang said Chinese procuratorial organs will continue to actively perform their duties, make full use of the public interest litigation system and strengthen exchanges and cooperation with international partners to build a fair, reasonable and mutually beneficial global environmental governance system.
