Grassland Alliance, a grassroots NGO based in Beijing filed a lawsuit last year, going against Xingyi Shangcheng Power Generation Co., Ltd., a local coal power plant in Guizhou, to pay a 9,400 RMB ($1,295) fine for causing āecological lossā and reprimanded the company for a public apology.
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As carbon dioxide is not a legally regulated pollutant in China, the court rejected the claim that the coal plant company should bear the ecological environmental damage caused by exceeding the standard. The excessive factor in the penalty decision is smoke and dust from coal plant emissions.
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However, the court held that although the current legislation does not include carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases as pollutants, they cause global warming and other related environmental problems. And the impact must be addressed. In areas with dense populations and serious excessive carbon dioxide concentration, it will also aggravate air pollution.
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Although the court ruled in favor of the climate activists, the NGO has filed an appeal hoping that the higher court will recognise the climate issue here. Ā In China, efforts to strengthen climate change regulations through legal procedures such as the GuiZhou Case have grown in recent years. But today, only procuratorates and certain organizations qualified to file legal cases can initiate climate litigation in China. Zhu says thatĀ under the current legal framework,Ā there is ābasically no spaceā for individuals to challenge the government and major emitters.
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āEven though the court only fined the coal company 1 yuan for emitting CO2, Ā it would set an example for future casesā
Public interest litigation is an effective way to advance climate action in China, particularly in mobilizing corporate responsibility and ensuring accountability.
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