Legal routes for accomplishing corporate environmental compliance against the "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality" goals

TL;DR

This paper analyzes legal pathways for corporate environmental compliance within China's evolving regulatory landscape, emphasizing the importance of legal theories, governance structures, and practical routes to meet environmental goals.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of legal accomplishment routes for corporate environmental compliance based on environmental jurisprudence and governance theories.

Findings

Legal routes should be based on environmental rights and obligations.

A diversified governance layout enhances compliance effectiveness.

Effective legal routes help manage regulatory and lawsuit risks.

Abstract

Against the macro-background of "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality" goals, eco-environment protection regulations are increasingly stricter. Facing high government regulatory risks and frequent environment lawsuits, corporate environmental compliance starts to play a vital role in healthy corporate operation. Law fulfillment routes constitute a critical part in corporate environmental compliance. Few academic scholars have conducted a profound analysis or discussion of legal accomplishment routes for corporate environmental compliances. As a matter of fact, legal routes for accomplishing corporate environmental compliance should be based proper theories concerning corporate environmental rights and obligations as well as dual layer nested governance structure (government environmental power and corporate environmental liabilities). Under the guidance of environmental jurisprudence, enterprises are responsible for setting up practical legal fulfillment routes for their environmental compliance-related rights and obligations. A diversified environmental governance layout composed of government regulation, enterprise self-discipline and social participation should be established. Within enterprises, effective legal routes should be developed for dealing with government regulatory risks and environment lawsuit risks at the same time.