On Oct 16, Zhang Jun, president and chief justice of the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) of China, met with a delegation led by Inger Andersen, United Nations under-secretary-general and executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in Beijing.

Zhang Jun, president and chief justice of the Supreme People’s Court of China, meets with a delegation led by Inger Andersen, United Nations under-secretary-general and executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, in Beijing on Oct 16. [Photo/court.gov.cn]

Zhang extended a warm welcome to the delegation, noting that China attaches great importance to ecological civilization and sustainable development. Chinese courts have been actively strengthening adjudication on environment and resources, and made dedicated efforts to safeguard the environment as the most inclusive form of public well-being, he added. 

Zhang briefed the delegation on the progress and achievements of China’s judicial protection of the ecological environment and natural resources, commending the UN and the UNEP for their important contributions to global environmental protection. He noted that the SPC and the UNEP have seen closer cooperation in recent years and expressed the hope to further enhance exchanges, information sharing, and capacity building to jointly contribute to building a clean, beautiful world and a community with a shared future for humanity.

Andersen expressed appreciation for the meeting and highlighted the importance of the partnership between the UNEP and the SPC. She said that the UNEP looks forward to deepening collaboration with the SPC in areas such as environmental protection, climate action, legal safeguards for green development, case information sharing, and judicial capacity building to advance ecological civilization and global sustainable development.

Zhang Jun and Inger Andersen jointly sign a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation between the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China and the United Nations Environment Programme. [Photo/court.gov.cn]

Following the meeting, Zhang and Andersen jointly signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the SPC and the UNEP.

Yang Linping, vice-president of the SPC, and representatives of relevant departments of the SPC also attended the meeting.