I want to buy 187 tons of this "secret weapon" as compensation, cut down 201 trees at the base | lawsuit | secret weapon

Li Feng didn't expect that chopping trees in the factory area would also result in punishment. The result of the punishment was not only to repair thousands of square meters of green land, but also to buy something he had never touched before - a carbon sink, with a quantity of 187 tons. This is to compensate for the damage to forest ecosystem services caused by tree cutting.

Wang Tao did not expect that the industrial wastewater discharged by the factory did not meet the standards. He not only had to compensate, but also had to plant trees - now in Tianyi Park in Qingpu District, they have planted 230 square meters of lawn and carefully waited on 24 flowering shrubs such as evening cherry, golden osmanthus, and crabapple. This is an alternative restoration for damaged surface water bodies.

When using tools such as suction pumps, drums, and skin tubes to suck clams from Dianshan Lake, Lao Yu and Xiao Xu were caught on the spot, with a catch weighing 6000 kilograms. They also didn't expect that after paying the fine, they would have to participate in breeding and releasing, public welfare labor, and volunteer activities. From "fishing" to "catching fish", it is the best effort to restore the ecological resources of the fishery.

These things all happened in Yuandang, at the junction of Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang. Last September, relevant departments in Qingpu District established the Yangtze River Delta Joint Ecological Restoration Base and the "Most Jiangnan" Public Interest Litigation Practice Innovation Base in Yuandangbian. When conducting environmental public interest litigation and pursuing ecological damage liability, if the damaged ecological environment cannot be repaired or cannot be fully repaired, the violator can be required to bear alternative repair responsibilities within the base.

Over the past year, more than a hundred trees have been planted and over 2 million tails have been bred and released in this base known as the "Yangtze River Delta Jade". "Allowing people who harm the environment to repair it has an educational and warning effect, and can also achieve true ecological effects," said Yu Li, director of the Public Welfare Prosecution Office of the Qingpu District Procuratorate.

Subscription of carbon sinks to compensate for ecological losses

In early 2022, Qingpu District received a report from a volunteer named "Yi Xin Wei Gong" that a company in Xianghuaqiao Street illegally cut down a large number of trees in the leased factory area for renovation and upgrading. "Random felling of trees can damage the regional ecological environment, but these trees are not registered by the forestry department, and there are difficulties in criminal and administrative accountability. In order to avoid the dilemma of 'enterprises breaking the law, the government paying the bill', we have filed a civil public interest lawsuit to hold the violators responsible for ecological damage restoration." Yu Li introduced.

After filing the case, the district procuratorate carried out a large amount of investigation and verification work. The prosecutor in charge confirmed through on-site inspection and laser ranging that a total of 201 trees had been cut down. There were 30 remaining tree stumps with a diameter of less than 20 centimeters and 171 with a maximum diameter of up to 60 centimeters on site. According to drone aerial surveying and mapping, the damaged green area reached 3040 square meters.

Drone aerial photography for evidence collection

After the procuratorial organs visited, Li Feng, the legal representative of the company involved in the case, also realized the seriousness of the problem. "The plants in the factory area have not been taken care of for many years. We cut down trees to beautify the factory area and plant precious trees for the convenience of attracting investment, not intentionally damaging the ecological environment." He said that the company is willing to take responsibility and actively proposed a greening construction plan. We replanted camphor trees, red leaves, and other trees and lawns in the factory area, restoring a total green area of 6887 square meters.

"In handling cases, we prioritize in situ restoration as a prerequisite. Trees have ecological functions such as carbon sequestration, water retention, and purification, while newly planted trees take decades to restore their previous ecological functions. How can the functional losses caused during this period be compensated?" Yu Li explained that during the handling of cases last year, the Supreme People's Court issued the "Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Civil Disputes over Forest Resources", which clarifies that parties can replace their liability for ecological and environmental damage compensation by subscribing to forestry carbon sinks.

So, the handling of this case introduced the concept of carbon sink compensation. The so-called carbon sink refers to the process, activity, or mechanism of absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through measures such as afforestation and vegetation restoration, thereby reducing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It is a "secret weapon" to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Carbon sequestration forest area

After evaluation by the Shanghai Institute of Environmental Science, the value of forest ecosystem service damage caused by the company involved in the case is 20.1 million yuan, of which the value of "carbon sequestration" ecosystem service function is 11200 yuan. "We applied to open an account at the Shanghai Environmental Energy Exchange in September, and after review, filing, registration, and trading, we subscribed to a forestry carbon sink worth 11200 yuan in November. According to the carbon trading price on that day, the subscribed tonnage was 187 tons, which has been completely cancelled," said Li Feng.

This case is not only the first public interest litigation case explored in the city for carbon sink subscription ecological compensation, but also the first judicial practice case confirmed by the exchange nationwide for carbon sink subscription. In addition to subscribing to carbon sinks, the company also replanted more than 40 trees such as Chinese fir at the "Most Jiangnan" public interest litigation practice innovation base, and installed energy-saving charging piles at the involved locations for ecological restoration.

Work together to protect the clear waters of a river

Wang Tao is the person in charge of a certain pharmaceutical equipment engineering Co., Ltd. In October 2021, an environmental inspection in Shanghai discovered that water was flowing from south to north in the rainwater manhole on the northeast side of the company's factory area. Sampling and monitoring results showed that the total nickel was 0.142mg/L, exceeding the emission limit of 0.1 mg/L of total nickel specified in the Comprehensive Wastewater Discharge Standard by 0.42 times. These wastewater were discharged through the rainwater outlet, causing water environmental pollution.

After filing the case, the People's Procuratorate of Qingpu District held a consultation hearing on ecological damage compensation, inviting two people's supervisors with relevant knowledge in the environmental field to participate. "There are numerous rivers and lakes in Qingpu, which are important water sources in Shanghai. Although enterprises have stopped illegal activities, the water body is flowing and pollutants are also spreading, and water ecological environment restoration should be carried out. People's supervisor Ma Jiangrong said that the joint recovery of ecological restoration costs by the Qingpu District Prosecutor's Office and the ecological environment management department fully reflects the principle of" environmental value, responsibility for damage ".".

Establishing public interest litigation for ecological restoration of forests

Breeding and releasing activities

Considering that the environmental damage caused is difficult to restore to its original state, after discussion, it has been decided to use "replanting and greening" as an alternative restoration method for damaged surface water bodies, with a restoration cost of 50000 yuan. "We have signed an ecological and environmental damage compensation agreement, which will implement ecological restoration measures." Wang Tao said that they have upgraded their equipment. In the later inspection, the monitoring results of wastewater discharge all meet the standards, and the trees in Tianyi Park are also growing well.

Dianshan Lake is located at the junction of Shanghai and Jiangsu, and is the source of the Huangpu River. The water quality of Dianshan Lake is directly related to the drinking water safety of thousands of households along the coast. It also needs cross regional cooperation and protection in the Yangtze River Delta. In July 2021, Suzhou transferred clues to the Qingpu District Prosecutor's Office that there was a high amount of suspended solids in the southwest side of Dianshan Lake, indicating possible pollution. After investigation, it was found that there are pollution situations along the coast, such as open-air operations in storage yards, illegal discharge of wastewater, and illegal breeding of poultry. On September 16th, the Qingpu District Procuratorate conducted a case filing review.

After satellite remote sensing monitoring, this yard was first built in November 2003, covering an area of 602 square meters. By April 2021, the area had reached 10520 square meters, a 17.5-fold increase. Dust prevention facilities have not been installed for materials such as yellow sand and gravel in the yard, resulting in severe dust emissions. "The challenges of coastal governance require joint efforts to be solved. The procuratorates of Qingpu, Wujiang, and Jiashan County jointly studied and discussed a joint governance plan, and ultimately cleared more than 30000 tons of solid waste, vacated more than 10000 square meters of land, and comprehensively improved the water source environment." Yu Li said, "We strive to handle every public interest litigation case with high quality and efficiency, enhance the people's sense of rule of law acquisition and security, and help the people's urban construction."