Focus on Arts and Ecology

A major milestone in China’s environmental legislation, parts of the code have nonetheless caused concern over 'taking one step forward and one back'. 

By Lin Zi, April 22, 2026

China’s new Ecological and Environmental Code brings together several laws on pollution, conservation and green and low-carbon development.

It is intended to tackle long-standing legal overlap and fragmented governance. Twenty laws – on forestry, energy and other issues – were left out and will continue to run in parallel. The “ecological” in the title alludes to the code covering not just pollution but also climate and biodiversity.

However, changes to some key mechanisms have caused controversy. Civil society organisations may now only be able to bring public interest lawsuits when the environment has already been harmed, with major risk of such harm no longer a sufficient reason. At the same time, new requirements on assessing the value of environmental damage and the cost of restoration may raise the financial and evidentiary barriers to bringing a lawsuit. This may limit what civil society organisations can do to provide extra oversight, experts told Dialogue Earth.

The code, which was published on 12 March and will take effect in mid-August, dedicates one of its five parts to green and low-carbon development. This puts China’s climate governance within a legislative framework. However, the language mostly sets out principles and guidance, with no details on who is responsible for reducing emissions or the consequences of failing to do so. Commentators have suggested this situation may be improved later by the creation of a separate climate law.

Dialogue Earth spoke to an academic who contributed to the code, a representative of a civil society organisation which brings public interest lawsuits, and a legal scholar. What signals does the new code send, and what is the logic behind it?

Chinese characteristics: Tension between protecting and using nature

Chen Haisong was involved in the new code’s compilation from the start in 2023. The professor from Wuhan University’s School of Law headed a team that wrote an introductory guide to it. He told Dialogue Earth that unlike France, which gathered all relevant laws into the environmental code it created around 2000, China opted to keep several individual laws alongside the code.

Ten laws on environmental protection and pollution control were incorporated, while elements from other regulations were selectively integrated. Meanwhile, 20 laws remain separate, including those on energy, forestry, grassland, national parks, the protection of the Yangtze, and the protection of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

The code will reduce conflicts between different laws, said He Yini, director-general of Chinese NGO Friends of Nature. She pointed out that environmental problems often touch upon multiple areas – mining pollution, for example, might affect water, air, soil and biodiversity. As individual laws for each did not always match up and could even disagree, the code will help coordinate across them and ensure systematic conservation, she said.

The word “ecology” appears in the code 1,765 times, in many cases as an addition to an existing use of “environment”.

“It might be only one word, but it’s very significant,” said Chen Haisong. “There’s a real difference between, for example, an environmental impact assessment and an ecological and environmental impact assessment. The existing environmental assessments focus mainly on pollution. That’s now expanded to ecological factors like biodiversity and in the future greenhouse gas emissions will be included.”

Although the code has a whole section on ecological protection and emphasises an ideal of systematic protection, it often discusses that protection alongside utilisation. For example, “the state strengthens the management of development and use of other natural resources such as forests, grasslands, wildlife and marine resources, in order to protect and make sustainable use of resources.”

“In the part on ecological conservation, conservation and utilisation are mixed up,” says He Yini. “There’s some controversy over that.” The code puts emphasis on the economic benefits of both conservation and utilisation, with the ecological value of conservation in second place, she adds.

“In China, environmental issues are development issues, so China’s environmental governance has chosen a state-led two-pronged approach of conservation and utilisation,” says Zhu Mingzhe, associate professor at the University of Glasgow’s School of Law.

Missing articles: Hitting the brakes on preventative lawsuits?

The code isn’t just a compilation of existing laws. Changes have been made.

The first draft of the code had allowed for government bodies and civil society organisations to bring lawsuits when ecologies or the environment were being harmed or put at major risk. That the part on risk was removed from the final version left some organisations worried less room is left for preventative lawsuits.

Since the 2015 Environmental Protection Law came into effect, public interest litigation involving the environment has seen prosecutors bring both civil and administrative lawsuits, while civil society organisations could bring civil lawsuits. They could also bring preventative lawsuits because the Supreme People’s Court interpretation of the law allowed them to bring cases when there was a major risk of pollution or ecological damage that would harm the public interest.

“Preventative public interest litigation is a crucial way of preventing ecological and environmental harms from arising, particularly irreversible harms like the extinction of endangered species,” says He Yini. “These cases have an important and irreplaceable role and cannot be lost.” She uses the Yunnan Green Peafowl case, China’s first preventative public interest litigation, as an example: construction of a hydropower project was halted following a lawsuit over the risk of harm to the endangered bird’s habitat.

The figures show that prosecutors are already the main force behind environmental public interest litigation. In 2023, 92% of such cases were brought by prosecutors, with only the remaining 4.8% by civil society organisations.

Changes to the preconditions for bringing a lawsuit also caused comment.

Article 1081 requires evidence of the costs of harm and of restoration when bringing a case. He Yini says this is not practical: when a lawsuit is being brought, the behaviour in question is usually ongoing. There may be some initial evidence of the damage caused, but the extent cannot be confirmed. If harm and restoration costs need to be assessed before the lawsuit even starts, there is likely to be a wasteful repetition of that process later and a big increase in the cost and barriers to litigation.

Actual cases show how. In 2011, Friends of Nature brought a lawsuit over chromium pollution in Qujing, Yunnan, demanding the defendant remove the pollutant and restore the local environment. The case dragged on for nine years, with the costs of assessing damages put at about CNY 3 million (around USD 420,000) – equivalent to the organisation’s entire operational budget at the time. An independent body was eventually brought in to assess remediation measures already taken, and ultimately the defendant paid for this work.

Such assessment costs have always been a barrier to environmental lawsuits. A number of soil pollution cases brought by Friends of Nature had to be shelved for a lack of funds, said He Yini. The new article in the code may therefore leave even less space for civil society organisations.

Legislating for the climate: Principles first, consequences later

New climate governance mechanisms appearing in the code have also drawn attention.

There is a section on green and low-carbon development, including a chapter on the response to climate change which covers mitigation, adaptation and China’s carbon targets. This is regarded as an important step for elevating climate from a policy matter to a legislative one.

However, some academics say placing climate under the green and low-carbon development heading may give it lesser status than it would as a stand-alone topic.

This section of the code often uses phrases announcing that “the state encourages”, “the state promotes” or “the state strengthens” – but lacks language on specific duties and the consequences for failing to meet them. For example, the code rules that key greenhouse gas emitters required to participate in the national carbon market must fulfil their duties to reduce carbon emissions – but no sanctions are specified for those failing to do so.

“With no climate change law to provide a framework, China needs to use existing legislation such as the Energy Law to drive emissions cuts,” Zhu Mingzhe told Dialogue Earth.

Climate legislation has been on the agenda since 2009 – but progress has been slow. The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress usually sets legislative plans on a five-year schedule. The latest plan, in 2023, described legislation on climate and carbon peaking and neutrality as “Category 3” – not yet ready to become law and in need of further research and discussion. That means the earliest a climate law might be passed is 2028.

“China started drafting its Energy Law in 2005, but it only became law in 2024. The climate change law is even more important and will be handled even more cautiously,” Zhu Mingzhe told Dialogue Earth.

Mangroves implicated in a road project face removal or transplantation, raising ecological damage fears and threatening fishers’ way of life. 

By Shalinee Kumari, April 23, 2026

Just before dawn, small fishing boats sail into the creeks dotting Mumbai’s coastline. By mid-morning, the catch will be sorted, packed and delivered to the city’s many markets. Living along the coast of this Indian megacity, the Indigenous Koli fishing community has followed the same routine for generations.

Along these creeks, mangrove forests stand firm in the mudflats. Forming the city’s first line of defence against floods, they break the force of tides, hold the shoreline in place, sequester carbon and shelter the fish that sustain these waters. In local Marathi dialects, mangroves are known as kaandalvan, teewar and khaarphuti. For fishers, they are the foundation of daily survival.

But a new 26 km coastal road planned between the upscale Versova neighbourhood and the suburbs of Bhayandar threatens these ecosystems.

“I earn around 1,500-2,000 rupees (USD 16-21.50) a day. We fish 365 days,” says Sanjay Bhandari. The 50-year-old fisher works in Charkop, a Mumbai municipality the road will pass through. “If this coastal road comes, my income will go to zero.”          

In March, India’s supreme court declined to overturn a ruling by the high court in Mumbai that permitted the removal of around 46,000 mangrove trees. The city’s planning authority, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), will be undertaking the work. The road is expected to be completed in 2029.

The supreme court ruled the road would “benefit the general public” by easing congestion on several major thoroughfares, as well as reducing travel times and fuel consumption for Mumbai residents.

But for fishing communities on the city’s outskirts that depend on the mangroves, their immediate reality has already begun changing.

Within a week of the supreme court’s decision, dozens of fishers from Versova to Charkop told Dialogue Earth they were seeing lower catches. They also claimed of being denied access to fishing areas. The BMC’s mangrove felling and foundational work has only just begun, but these fishers are already facing uncertainty over their livelihoods.

Manohar Bhandari, a fisher in Charkop, where the felling has begun, explains why catches are already declining: “The piling and constant hammering have scared away the fish. The fish understands changes in nature before humans do.”

Fishers always last to know

The proposed road is planned as a continuation of the existing Mumbai coastal road, and as an extension of the coastal corridor connecting to Bhayandar in the north.

According to the BMC, around 55% of the coastal road will be built on stilts, with some sections passing through tunnels.

The road is expected to pass through key fishing areas for several coastal villages including Charkop, Malvani, Gorai, Aksa, Manori and Marve. According to the most recent data, tens of thousands of fisherfolk live along Mumbai’s central and suburban coastlines. Fishers fear the project will restrict access to creeks and traditional routes that have been used for generations.

In areas like Charkop and Gorai, located a few kilometres apart, mangroves stretch deep into the creeks. The air is thick with the sounds of birds and crabs. They move through the mudflats and tangled roots, exposed as the tide recedes.

Several fishers in Charkop, including Manohar and Sanjay Bhandari, say they first learned about the mangrove felling on social media, primarily through the citizens’ group Save Mumbai Mangroves. The group has been collecting geotagged footage of mangroves being felled along the route. Barricades have been installed around the mangroves, so members film from above in their apartment buildings.

The BMC’s submission to the high court in Mumbai reveals around 60,000 mangrove trees are within the project’s zone of influence, and therefore may be “affected/destroyed”. It states around 9,000 trees are to be destroyed in the areas occupied by the bridge and road construction. Nearly 37,000 mangroves in a 68-hectare zone will be “temporarily diverted and affected” during construction, before being subject to a detailed restoration plan.

The court has directed another 36,925 mangroves to be planted on land that will become available following construction. This will be carried out by the Mangrove Cell of the state of Maharashtra, a government unit dedicated to mangrove protection, conservation and management.

Fishers also allege that mangrove trees are being felled late at night, only to be discovered when they fish near the creeks in the daytime. They question the BMC’s intent: “Why hide it?” asks Manohar. “Why not let us see?”

Dheeraj Bhandari, president of the local Charkop Koliwada Society fishing association, says fishing communities and villagers are often the last to be informed of infrastructure projects.

According to Stalin Dayanand, director of the Mumbai environmental group Vanashakti, fishing communities in the project sites were not even informed while the first phase was being planned. “They only found out when their jetties were taken over, access was restricted, and their boats were removed,” he claims.

“Informing them is what an ethical government should do,” says Stalin. “[The fishing communities] always have to fight back, and then some settlement is reached.”

Dialogue Earth has contacted the Mangrove Cell of Maharashtra but not received a response.

Fisherfolk associations from the Koli fishing village of Worli Koliwada petitioned the high court of Mumbai in 2019. They challenged aspects of the coastal road project, and alleged a lack of consultation and adequate surveys when assessing potential impacts on fishers’ livelihoods and marine life. Though the high court ordered a halt to the work, the supreme court eventually allowed the project to continue, with certain restrictions.

The Coastal Regulation Zone framework, established under the Environment Protection Act, regulates development along India’s coasts. Under this framework, state governments are required to form district-level committees to enforce it and monitor projects. The committees must include at least three representatives of local traditional coastal communities, including fisherfolk.

“However, in Maharashtra state government projects, representation in actual decision-making processes is often missing,” Stalin claims.

He adds that Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers are granted statutory rights under the 2006 Forest Rights Act. But fishing communities do not have equivalent comprehensive and national rights-based legislation. “They should be treated on par with tribal communities, because they are Indigenous people who depend on the land and the water for their livelihood,” Stalin says.

Malvani village is located in the central stretch of the project. In early April, around 30 members of the Koli community gathered near their fishing grounds here, protesting the construction of a boundary wall enclosing the site. Pradeep Koli, a fisher, alleges the work began without residents being consulted.

Villagers claimed the construction work meant access to traditional fishing grounds was being restricted. “This land belongs to us. We were never asked,” says Koli. “We have come here to protect our existence, to save our lifeline.”

Livelihoods and cultural ties at stake

Mangrove systems, such as those the road is expected to cut through, serve as rich breeding grounds for marine life. During high tide, fish and crabs spawn in the shallow, nutrient-rich waters. Fishers tell Dialogue Earth they sustain local fisheries that have been depended on for generations.

“If you cut down these mangroves and damage these mudflats, how will they ever grow back?” asks Dheeraj of the Charkop Koliwada Society. “The plan must be changed. We cannot destroy natural resources.” Fishers and campaigners consulted by Dialogue Earth say the loss of mangroves is not just ecological or economic but deeply cultural.

Mangroves have long been part of the communities’ everyday life. Their wood and branches have traditionally been used to build homes. The mangrove ecosystems have shaped daily life, knowledge systems and traditions, notes Stalin, who has been studying the ecology of Mumbai.

Fishing communities have historically used mangroves sustainably and long played a role in protecting them in and around Mumbai, Stalin says: “Even for firewood, they would take fallen branches. Cutting mangrove trees is not part of their practice.”

Mohit Ramle, Mumbai president of the All Koli Community and Culture Preservation Association, has been raising awareness about mangroves and their key role in Koli life using social media.

Standing near Versova Beach, he tells Dialogue Earth how mangrove resources were used in folk medicine for snake bites and insect bites: “Leaves and bark helped treat wounds. Some leaves, when crushed, release a smell that repels mosquitoes. This knowledge comes from our ancestors.”

Mangroves have always held importance in Koli traditions, too. This is reflected in oral traditions and folk songs passed down through generations. These include stories of the sea, nature and spirits believed to inhabit these landscapes, Ramle notes, such as the goddess Holika.

For the Kolis, who have long been nature worshippers, the disappearance of mangroves is not just environmental degradation – it is the erosion of memory, belief and belonging.

‘Mindset more dangerous than a tsunami’

Dozens of fishers Dialogue Earth spoke to say they have complained to the BMC, and have been actively participating in protests around the city. Dialogue Earth reached out to the BMC but has not received a response.

For Sanjay Bhandari, fishing is his only source of income. He wishes to support his daughter to become a cricketer – an expensive pursuit. He laments: “If fishing stops, how will [she] move forward?”

Around him, others are asking similar questions. “We don’t know whose dream project this [road] is,” says Dheeraj. “What we do know is that it cuts through mangroves and will destroy the biodiversity here.”

For a city that has repeatedly withstood devastating floods, water levels rising further due to the loss of mangroves is a real worry, he notes: “If we cut down the mangroves, it will be worse for us.”

For Ramle, the issue runs deeper than a single project: “Concrete alone is not development; living in peace with nature is real development.”

What worries him more is how easily nature is dismissed: “This mindset is more dangerous than a tsunami. A tsunami comes once; this keeps destroying nature again and again.”

Ramle insists the community is not opposed to development. “Our fight is against unsustainable development.”

He thinks many in the fishing community are still unaware of the project itself. Among those who are aware, Ramle says, there is growing fatigue: “Our community is tired of protests and legal fights. People are fed up. They should be able to focus on their livelihoods instead.”

This story was supported by Earth Journalism Network.

Residents fear Mahahual’s unique ocean will not survive huge development in latest battle over ‘Cancún model’ mass tourism. 

By Julian Reingold, April 14, 2026

Mahahual, on the southern end of Quintana Roo state in south-east Mexico, has just 2,800 inhabitants. But each year more than a million tourists flock to what travel agents sell as one of the last remaining unspoiled paradises in the Caribbean.

Some residents now fear that “unspoiled” status is in jeopardy. The all-inclusive cruise company Royal Caribbean has unveiled plans to develop a huge water park in Mahahual, named Perfect Day Mexico. It could attract millions more visitors to the town.

Mahahual’s corals are a key part of the second largest barrier reef in the world, the Mesoamerican Reef. The reef is already threatened by rising temperatures and waves of sargassum, as well as pressure from visitors. The plans for a water park threaten to destroy mangroves and release reef-damaging wastewater, according to environmentalists.

“They don’t care about the environment, only the economic benefits for a few players in that destination,” says Guillermo D Christy, a water treatment consultant and president of SelvameMX, an environmental protection NGO.

Questioning the Cancún model

Perfect Day Mexico promises an investment of nearly a billion dollars, and a boon for the local economy from an estimated 15,000 daily cruise ship visitors. But there are concerns it could simply replicate a type of tourism dubbed the “Cancún model”, which prioritises a large number of visitors by lowering prices.

Perfect Day Mexico is inspired by Coco Cay in The Bahamas, another beach club with a water park owned by Royal Caribbean.

When it announced the plans in 2024, Royal Caribbean promised “a modern and sustainable destination” and said it would be “caring for the planet [and] empowering communities”. Mara Lezama, governor of Quintana Roo, was quoted saying she would be “working closely with the company to ensure a sustainable destination that brings shared prosperity to the region”.

Perfect Day would overhaul the town’s Casitas neighbourhood and an existing cruise ship pier. Local opponents argue the town will be strained by the development and fear it will impact areas of ecological importance, including forests and mangroves.

The Caribbean coast of Mexico is known globally for its sun-and-sand tourism. This started half a century ago, with the construction of the city of Cancún on Quintana Roo’s northern coast.

Development in Cancún was replicated down the coast in the following decades; first Playa del Carmen and the island of Cozumel, then Tulum and now Mahahual. Most of these destinations are now connected by the Mayan Train.

This spreading rapid development has prompted criticisms that the focus on all-inclusive holidays brings little benefit to some communities and contributes to environmental damage.

The Mahahual proposal is eliciting similar concerns. “The Cancún model failed along the coast and Mahahual represents Quintana Roo’s last chance for redemption. We cannot continue generating vast revenues for the Mexican federation [central government] at an excessive cost to the environment,” says Irma Morales Cruz, a lawyer with the NGO Defending the Right to a Healthy Environment (DMAS).

Residents’ resistance

Mahahual has grown on tourism. Most current residents migrated there from other parts of Mexico, or from further afield, for the economic opportunities as well as the beauty of the surroundings.

But many of those who arrived during earlier waves are set against this latest development, saying it is a big step too far.

One resident, who wished to remain anonymous due to tensions over the plans, told Dialogue Earth she belongs to the first generation of migrants who arrived in Mahahual in the late 1990s and early 2000s. She fears for the mangrove jungle, where toucans and tapirs live, saying it could be threatened by the arrival of so many more visitors.

The influx of new residents required for the development could risk changing the peaceful way of life in Mahahual that largely coexists with nature, she says. Not to mention, straining the town’s existing public services.

“Perfect Day will require approximately 2,500 workers to operate the project. This new wave of migrants arriving in Mahahual [won’t] care about the sea or nature, and they’ll soon start complaining about the lack of public services,” she says.

Another Mahahual resident, Luis Fernando Amezcua, arrived in town 16 years ago and works as a diving instructor and guide for ecological excursions. He says the plans he has seen for Perfect Day will not foster a connection to the local culture and environment, and do not properly balance society, nature and the economy.

Amezcua particularly fears the impacts on the ocean and coastal mangroves. He says the reef is already feeling the effects of tourism, climate change and sargassum. He is betting that popular resistance can prevent the park’s planned opening in 2027, despite the municipal and state governments modifying urban development plans to accommodate it.

Royal Caribbean has pledged to conserve 45 hectares of existing mangroves and protect the Mesoamerican Reef. It also promises to “safeguard native species, including sea turtle nesting sites, construct a new wastewater treatment plant and a solid waste treatment plant, achieve 100% green energy to power the site by 2040, restore impacted areas, and more”.

“Our vision for Perfect Day Mexico seeks respectful integration and a net benefit for the ecosystem,” the company tells Dialogue Earth.

Benefits in question

Cruz says action on this pledge has so far failed to materialise. The company promised to carry out basic infrastructure work at a nearby housing project to support the community. According to Cruz, this has not happened. And she claims the application to use a patch of tropical jungle to facilitate the water park was pushed through without public consultation.

Royal Caribbean says changes to urban planning policy are a matter for local government. A spokesperson says the company “acted, and will continue to act, in strict and complete accordance with all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations in Mexico. Every step of this process has been conducted with the utmost transparency and adherence to legal due process”. The company also said a waste facility and water treatment plant are planned, to support the community.

Greenpeace Mexico is also opposing the plans, arguing Perfect Day is part of an extractive tourism model that is unsustainable in the long term.

“We cannot continue to allow a handful of companies to enrich themselves at the expense of ecosystems and people,” Ornela Garelli, Greenpeace’s campaigns director, tells Dialogue Earth.

In its own environmental impact assessment, Royal Caribbean acknowledges the project could have a negative impact. It claims this will not be direct however, because the development would not lead to total habitat loss.

Greenpeace submitted its own, rival analysis to Mexico’s environment ministry (Semarnat). It claims the developer’s assessment “overlooks” the cumulative impact of large structures on environmental factors, such as water quality. A spokesperson says Semarnat is currently evaluating the assessment, and insisted it would “strictly” adhere to regulatory procedures.

Greenpeace has raised concerns about the Mexican Caribbean biosphere reserve, located a stone’s throw south-east of the project site. The reserve is home to endemic, threatened and endangered species such as ocelots and spider monkeys, as well as white turtles that nest on these beaches.

“Royal Caribbean’s environmental impact assessment is misinforming the community about the true impacts of Perfect Day,” says Garelli. “At the same time, the company has reinforced its commitment to social impact activities to buy people’s support, with gestures like cleaning sargassum from the beaches and building roads.”

Royal Caribbean says it has “planned significant and tangible investments in the community” and that its “actions to benefit the community are a demonstration of our long-term vision to be a responsible and value-adding partner, independent of any single project”.

In a letter sent to Greenpeace in March from Royal Caribbean’s CEO, Michael Bayley, he wrote that he recognised the concerns raised. He added that the company remains committed to “protecting the ecosystems and communities that make the Mexican Caribbean so extraordinary”, and is guided by “rigorous and evidence-based planning”.

The future of coastal tourism?

Juan Jacobo Schmitter is a fish biologist at Ecosur, a public research centre based in Quintana Roo’s state capital, Chetumal. He says the promised construction of a wastewater treatment plant could benefit the local environment.

But Schmitter also says the reefs and mangroves are suffering from sargassum seaweed blooms, which regularly blanket them in rotting vegetation. And many of the area’s fish species have not recovered from overfishing in the past. Wastewater from resorts and sunscreen from bathing tourists could pile on more pressure.

“This is already happening in places like Playa del Carmen, and if we add to that the increased presence of boats and tourists who damage the coral with their flippers, the ecosystem becomes even more vulnerable,” says Schmitter.

Roberto Herrera, an expert in aquatic ecology at Ecosur, tells Dialogue Earth the corals are close to collapse due to the combined effects of climate change, illegal fishing and sargassum.

“We would like to have boutique tourism: snorkelling, diving, sport fishing and jungle excursions,” he says, “but we’re stuck with the mass tourism of cruise ships that require an attraction like a water park.”

For now, many in Mahahual hope their quiet way of life will not be punctured by even more tourism. But local resident Amezcua says time is running out to protect this environment: “If we continue like this, in no more than 20 years there will be nothing left.”

Julian Reingold