A Comparative Analysis of the Environmental Policies in China and Pakistan: Developing a Legal Regime for Sustainable China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)

Abstract

Recent studies reflect that the legal regime of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is one of the crucial gateways of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It is somehow replete with multiple environmental perplexities. Environmental quandary is expected in the BRI's development projects. This turns it into a main reason behind a recent shift in China's environmental policies owing to international commitments. The broader prospects involved offer a larger role in the international organisations. In accordance with the global environmental policy transformation, China integrates climate change as a new science with terrestrial and marine ecosystems. In the development of CPEC projects, there are lessons to be learnt by Pakistan also. It needs to integrate its environmental policies to refine its international status and maintain itself as a sustainable and principal partner of China's BRI. This study explores the inadequacies in * M. Jahanzeb Butt is a PhD Scholar, School of Law, Dalian Maritime University, China. ** Yen Chiang Chang is Professor of International Law, School of Law, Dalian Maritime University, China. ***Khadija Zulfiqar is a PhD Scholar, School of Law, Dalian Maritime University, China. ___________________ @2021 by the Islamabad Policy Research Institute. IPRI Journal XXI (1): 83-122 https://doi.org/10.31945/iprij.210104 M Jahanzeb Butt, Yen Chiang Chang & Khadija Zulfiqar 2 IPRI JOURNAL  2021 Pakistan's existing environmental policy while comparing it with the Chinese counterpart, and Chinese environmental policy shift, which is being implemented on CPEC and BRI projects.