Solving the Judicial Dilemma of Coastal Environmental Protection in China: An Integrated Approach Under the National Policy of Land and Sea Coordination

【作者】钟慧

Abstract: Coastal zones represent critical interfaces where terrestrial and marine environments interact dynamically, creating unique ecological vulnerabilities. These areas face substantial environmental threats, particularly from land-based pollutants that traverse the land-sea boundary, raising complex legal classification challenges. In China, where separate regulatory regimes govern land and marine environmental protection, this dual-system framework has generated persistent inconsistencies in environmental litigation—even when addressing pollution events originating from a single source. In light of this legal predicament, this paper contends that China's national policy of land-sea coordination establishes a conceptual and institutional basis for integrating terrestrial and marine environmental governance in coastal zones. To overcome the judicial challenges in coastal zones, this study proposes a path centered on establishing an integrated land-sea regulatory approach within the Ecological and Environmental Code, supported by an integrated jurisdictional framework and a collaborative multi-stakeholder governance system for ecological conservation.

Keywords:Environmental judicial dilemma; environmental pollution in coastal zone; public interest litigation; the national policy of land and sea coordination and china

【本文来源】Coastal Management, Published online: 15 Dec 2025