IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/palcom/v11y2024i1d10.1057_s41599-024-03008-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The development, shortcomings and future improvement of punitive damages for environmental torts in China—a reflection and comparative research

Author

Listed:
  • Ran An

    (Qufu Normal University)

  • Ying Zhou

    (Qingdao University)

  • Rongzhao Zhang

    (Shandong Jianzhu University)

Abstract

In the early 1990s, China introduced into its civil legal system the punitive damages system derived from the Anglo-American legal tradition, marking a significant legislative breakthrough among civil law countries. Currently, China is one of the countries with the greatest pressure to reduce emissions in the world, and more effective legal tools are needed for environmental governance. Therefore, in China’s Civil Code, which came into effect in January 2021, punitive damages for environmental torts were established, enabling the imposition of additional compensation for severe environmental pollution and ecological damage incidents and thus enhancing the deterrent effect of environmental laws. The construction of punitive damages for environmental torts in China has significant positive implications, but the provisions of the system are not perfect, leading to some confusion in its judicial practice. The United States has a very systematic and mature experience in the construction of punitive damages for environmental torts, which is worthy of reference for China. From a comparative research perspective, China’s punitive damages for environmental torts should particularly focus on issues such as expanding its scope of application, clarifying rules for determining compensation amounts, addressing issues of concurrent liability and optimizing related legislation.

Suggested Citation

  • Ran An & Ying Zhou & Rongzhao Zhang, 2024. "The development, shortcomings and future improvement of punitive damages for environmental torts in China—a reflection and comparative research," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-12, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:11:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-024-03008-2
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-024-03008-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41599-024-03008-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41599-024-03008-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michelle J. White, 2004. "Asbestos and the Future of Mass Torts," NBER Working Papers 10308, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Michelle J. White, 2004. "Asbestos and the Future of Mass Torts," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 18(2), pages 183-204, Spring.
    3. Xu Liu & Bo Shen & Lynn Price & Ali Hasanbeigi & Hongyou Lu & Cong Yu & Guanyun Fu, 2019. "A review of international practices for energy efficiency and carbon emissions reduction and lessons learned for China," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(5), September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ying Zhou & Huimin Wang & Xiaohui An, 2024. "The criminal law protection mechanism for sustainable development in China – an empirical analysis of environmental pollution crime," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-10, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kristian Kallenberg, 2007. "The Role of Risk in Corporate Value: A Case Study of the ABB Asbestos Litigation," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(8), pages 1007-1025, December.
    2. Alex Coad & Gianluca Biggi & Elisa Giuliani, 2021. "Asbestos, leaded petrol, and other aberrations: comparing countries’ regulatory responses to disapproved products and technologies," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(2), pages 201-233, February.
    3. Ramello, Giovanni B., 2012. "Aggregate litigation and regulatory innovation: Another view of judicial efficiency," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 63-71.
    4. Landeo, Claudia M., 2009. "Cognitive coherence and tort reform," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 898-912, December.
    5. Landeo, Claudia M., 2009. "Tort Reform, Disputes and Belief Formation," MPRA Paper 13453, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Taillard, Jerome Ph. A., 2008. "Thriving in the Midst of Financial Distress? An Analysis of Firms Exposed to Abestos Litigation," Working Paper Series 2008-12, Ohio State University, Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics.
    7. Eric Helland & Jonathan Klick & Alexander Tabarrok, 2005. "Data Watch: Tort-uring the Data," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(2), pages 207-220, Spring.
    8. Taillard, Jérôme P., 2013. "The disciplinary effects of non-debt liabilities: Evidence from asbestos litigation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 267-293.
    9. Paul Rubin, 2005. "Public choice and tort reform," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 223-236, July.
    10. Erik T. Smith & Scott C. Sheridan, 2021. "Projections of cold air outbreaks in CMIP6 earth system models," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 169(1), pages 1-16, November.
    11. Chunyu Pan & Anil Kumar Shrestha & Guangyu Wang & John L. Innes & Kevin Xinwei Wang & Nuyun Li & Jinliang Li & Yeyun He & Chunguang Sheng & John-O. Niles, 2021. "A Linkage Framework for the China National Emission Trading System (CETS): Insight from Key Global Carbon Markets," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-15, July.
    12. Claudio F. Carpio & Marina Yesica Recalde, 2021. "Learning energy efficiency networks in Latin America: Lessons learned from the Argentinean case," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(3), May.
    13. Lin Wang & Yugang He & Renhong Wu, 2024. "Digitization Meets Energy Transition: Shaping the Future of Environmental Sustainability," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-25, February.
    14. Peter D. Lund & John Byrne, 2020. "Little time left to reverse emissions—Growing hope despite disappointing CO2 trend," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(1), January.
    15. Bu, Caiqi & Zhang, Kaixia & Shi, Daqian & Wang, Shuyu, 2022. "Does environmental information disclosure improve energy efficiency?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    16. Safarzadeh, Soroush & Rasti-Barzoki, Morteza & Hejazi, Seyed Reza, 2020. "A review of optimal energy policy instruments on industrial energy efficiency programs, rebound effects, and government policies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:11:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-024-03008-2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.nature.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.