Abstract:
China's current compensation system for natural resources damage under public ownership faces severe challenges, including legal application inconsistencies, ambiguous claimant identification, and ill-defined relief objects, leading to conflated economic-ecological valuations and claimant passivity in practice. Through systematic comparison of existing institutional frameworks, this study proposes a novel litigation mechanism grounded in state ownership of natural resources and environmental public interest. Our key institutional innovations include: ① establishing specialized natural resources asset management authorities to exercise ownership rights; ② developing compensation negotiation mechanisms that safeguard public supervision and rights to be informed while enabling orderly public participation; ③ implementing presumption of liability rules based on evidentiary preponderance and accessibility considerations; ④ adopting a comprehensive compensation scope encompassing economic, ecological, and social benefits of natural resources. The proposed system emphasizes coordination with environmental tort litigation and public interest litigation, aiming to achieve integrated legal relief for natural resources' multidimensional values.