Legal and environmental experts from around the world have pledged to strengthen collaboration and expand exchanges to advance green development and jointly address climate change challenges.

The experts shared their views on environmental protection through the lens of the rule of law at the International Workshop on Judicial Services for Green and Low-Carbon Transition and Development, held on Wednesday in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. The event was organized by China's Supreme People's Court.

In her opening remarks, Yang Linping, vice-president of the SPC, highlighted China's Ecological and Environmental Code, which was adopted by the country's top legislature in March and will take effect on Aug 15.

As the world's first code named after ecological and environmental concerns, the legislation breaks away from the traditional separation of environmental protection and socio-economic development, integrating pollution prevention, ecological conservation, and green and low-carbon development into a unified framework, Yang said.

She emphasized the section dedicated to green and low-carbon development, which includes a special chapter on addressing climate change. The chapter comprehensively incorporates legal requirements for tackling climate change and achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals, she said.

The code also stipulates that China should actively participate in and lead global climate governance, promoting the establishment of a fair, equitable and mutually beneficial global climate governance system.

Yang also highlighted the efforts made by Chinese courts over the past decade to improve the quality and efficiency of handling environmental cases.

"We'd like to share our legal experience with other countries," she said.

Data from the SPC showed that Chinese courts concluded more than 2.3 million first-instance environmental and natural resources cases from 2014 to 2025. Since 2021, the number of such disputes has declined.

The number of judicial institutions and teams specializing in environmental cases has increased from 134 in 2014 to more than 2,500 today, contributing to greater professionalism in adjudication, according to the data.

Since 2014, the SPC has also formulated and revised 24 judicial documents on environmental and ecological issues and issued 24 guidelines to facilitate the implementation of laws such as the Yangtze River Protection Law and the Yellow River Protection Law.

Dechen Tsering, director of the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific of the United Nations Environment Programme, underscored the importance of strengthening the environmental rule of law for the benefit of both people and the planet.

She said China has accumulated valuable experience in this area, noting that courts across the country have handled a wide range of environmental cases, including those involving renewable energy.

While emphasizing the judiciary's important role in addressing climate change, she said international workshops such as the one in Hangzhou provide valuable platforms for judges from different countries to exchange experiences and share cases.

Christophe Courchesne, director of the Environmental Law Center at Vermont Law and Graduate School, stressed the importance of judicial collaboration in addressing common challenges, particularly those related to the green energy transition.

"Judicial cooperation provides fertile ground for discussion and learning," he said, adding that greater exchanges through academic and scholarly channels would help address challenges related to international cooperation.

Chen Ye contributed to this story.