China's ten judicial cases on the environment and resources were recently included in the environmental law database of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), according to China’s Supreme People's Court (SPC).

The inclusion is based on the MoU signed by the SPC and the UNEP to collect information and practices of China's environment and resources cases and share them with countries worldwide.

The ten cases, with brief introductions and links, as well as a white paper --- Environmental and Resources Adjudication in China (2016-2017) --- are listed on the law and cases column of the infoMEA, a UN online portal that provides public information about the Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEA's).

The first ten cases were selected from typical ones on environment and resources issues released by the SPC in recent years. They include criminal, civil, administrative, public interest and ecological damage compensation litigation cases, involving various environmental elements and resources such as air quality, water, soil, mines, forests, fishing, wild animals and natural reserves.

This is the first time the UN's website has opened a special column for China's judicial cases, which it keeps updating, said the SPC.

The cases collection is positive for China efforts to unify judicial criteria for environmental and resource cases and to improve judicial rules and the functions of judicial assessment and policies formulation.

The UNEP has spoken highly of the cases and white paper and regards them as a beginning in filling the blanks in China's judicial information about its environment and resources on UNEP’s website.

The Environmental and Resources Adjudication in China (2016-2017) is a main vehicle for international society to acquire information about Chinese environment and resource judicial matters, said the UNEP, adding that it hopes China will provide more cases and white papers in the field for further cooperation and exchange.