WITHDRAWN: Assessment of multi-level legal mechanisms for the protection of ecosystem services in China

Abstract

Abstract The Chinese environmental law recognizes the value of ecosystem services and provides a multi-level system of legal mechanisms. Differentiation of land use, the accountability of local government and their political leaders for the environment, including the ecosystem services capacity, the payment for ecosystem services through transfer payments or market mechanism, the tort liability for the disruption of ecosystem, and criminal liability for disruption of the ecosystem are the main legal mechanisms for the protection of ecosystem services in China. These mechanisms can be grouped into more centralized or decentralized mechanisms. The criminal and civil liabilities for disrupting ecosystems are decentralized mechanisms while others are more centralized. The recent development of public interest litigation helps to remedy ecological disruptions. The enforcement of criminal liability primarily relies on the police and public prosecutors. The more centralized mechanisms primarily rely on the command and control of the higher government over lower government but the incentives of lower government is also essential. Considering environmental protection is just one of the responsibilities of local governments, it is essential to incentivize political leaders of local governments to put more weight on environmental protection and the conservation and improvement of ecosystems. The central government categorizes four type of function zones (optimized development zone, intensive development zone, restricted development, and prohibited development zone) and set differentiated economic and environmental requirement on each category of land. The purpose is to differentiate the incentives of local governments. The local governments are responsible to meet the environmental protection goals. The central government incentivize the local governments through a top-down hierarchical performance evaluation system of local political leaders whose promotion largely depends on the governmental official performance evaluation system. The economic compensation for the conservation of ecosystem services is accomplished through transfer payments or market mechanisms. The local government of regions that benefit from the ecosystems of other regions may need to make payment to the government of the latter either directly or via the higher government. The success of the more centralized mechanisms depends on the authority of the central government over local governments, the authority of the higher local governments over lower local governments. The interests of local residents and local governments may be ignored. The high transaction costs may make these mechanisms inefficient.