Normative Structure and Institutional Improvement of Judicial Application of Carbon Sinks in National Parks

Abstract

Against the backdrop of accelerated restructuring of the global climate governance system and coordinated advancement of the “Dual Carbon” target, national parks, as the core carrier of nature reserves, have seen the judicial application of their carbon sinks become a key field connecting ecological protection and climate governance. At present, the judicial application of carbon sinks in national parks is confronted with three dilemmas: first, the basic system for carbon sink subscription needs to be improved, manifested in the generalized scope of application and insufficient supply of legal basis; second, there exists a contradiction between the diversity of subscription forms and the consistency of implementation, with inconsistent accounting standards and verification methods; third, the transparency and standardization of capital flow management are insufficient, and a regulatory mechanism is absent. The root causes lie in the realistic constraints imposed by the complexity of ecological environment governance and the systematic absence of legal systems, as well as the obstacles at the level of principle guidance caused by the absence of the ecological priority principle, legal application principle and due process principle. To resolve the above dilemmas, institutional improvement should be promoted from the following dimensions: clarify the scope of application and establish the relevance standard for damage to carbon sink functions; unify subscription standards, integrate trading platforms and construct a cross-regional judicial collaboration mechanism; strengthen capital supervision and establish a dual-track transparency mechanism. Through the above normative structure, a two-tier model of general application of carbon sinks and priority application of national park carbon sinks can be formed, providing theoretical support and practical guidance for the law-based realization of ecological protection in national parks and the “Dual Carbon” target.