On 12 March 2026, the 4th Session of the 14th National People’s Congress passed the Ecological and Environmental Code of the People’s Republic of China (hereafter: Environmental Code), which will enter into force on 15 August 2026. The Environmental Code is the second statute in Chinese legal history to carry the designation of a formal “code”, following the Civil Code adopted in 2020. A draft of the Code was released for public consultation in April 2025. The adoption of the Environmental Code marks a milestone in China’s environmental rule of law, establishing a legal basis for environmental protection across China’s economic and social domains. By consolidating, revising, and elevating more than 30 pre-existing environmental statutes, the Code resolves longstanding issues of overlap, inconsistency, and legislative gaps.
Structure and key provisions of the Environmental Code
The Environmental Code comprises five parts and 1,242 articles, organised as follows:
- Part I: General Provisions (Arts. 1–147)
- Part II: Pollution Prevention and Control (Arts. 148–673)
- Part III: Ecological Conservation (Arts. 674–937)
- Part IV: Green and Low-Carbon Development (Arts. 938–1051)
- Part V: Legal Liability and Supplementary Provisions (Arts. 1051–1242)
The Code integrates existing legislation while introducing new legal provisions for emerging areas such as green and low-carbon development, rather than subsuming all environment-related laws into a single instrument. Under this approach, ten core pollution-control statutes (including the Environmental Protection Law, the Environmental Impact Assessment Law, and the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law) have been incorporated and revised into the Code, with the corresponding standalone laws to be repealed upon its entry into force. Laws governing natural resources, river basins, and specific regions (such as the Forest Law, the Water Law, and the Yangtze River Protection Law) have been selectively drawn upon, with their essential provisions reflected in the Code while the standalone laws remain in effect to address complex, context-specific needs.
For emerging areas such as climate change response, green and low-carbon development, and carbon peaking and neutrality, the Code sets out guiding principles and foundational provisions, establishing a framework that allows room for future legislation and practical development.
Green and low-carbon development
This part provides a legal framework covering the circular economy, energy conservation, green and low-carbon transition, and climate change response. The Code explicitly requires the coordinated pursuit of carbon reduction, pollution control, ecosystem expansion, and economic growth, establishing a legal pathway for the green transformation, including binding requirements for greener modes of production and consumption.
Addressing climate change
Within the Green and Low-Carbon Development part, the “Chapter on Addressing Climate Change” (Articles 1021–1046) further consolidates the legal framework for achieving China’s carbon peaking and neutrality goals. At its core, the Code embeds these goals into national development planning (Article 1032: “the State shall fully integrate the requirements of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality into national development plans, and use these targets to drive climate change mitigation”) and establishes a legally binding dual-control system for both total carbon emissions and emissions intensity (Article 1032: “the State shall implement a system for controlling both the total volume and intensity of carbon emissions, with carbon emission quotas to be determined scientifically and rationally on the basis of carbon peaking and neutrality targets”).
Analysis and reception
The Environmental Code marks progress in several key areas, particularly in environmental and climate governance. It elevates the legal framework for climate change by requiring the integration of carbon-peaking and carbon-neutrality goals into national development plans, and introducing mechanisms for emissions control, carbon footprint management, and carbon sink monitoring. Furthermore, the Code addresses emerging pollution types, adopting a risk-based approach for chemical substances, setting standards for non-ionizing radiation, and regulating light pollution, thus extending legal coverage to newer environmental challenges.
However, according to some observers the Code also has its deficits. Public interest litigation (EPIL) is weakened by new evidentiary requirements, making it more difficult for environmental organizations to act proactively and increasing the financial and procedural burdens of legal action. In addition, while the Code aims to streamline ecological conservation, it fails to fundamentally rethink the existing statutory regime and provide a coherent framework by treating ecosystems and natural resources as separate entities, leading to fragmentation and internal inconsistencies.
References:
NPC 2026: A First Look at China’s New Environmental Code
