Legal Consideration On Promoting The Public’s Environmentally Friendly Behavior

To a certain extent, many environmental problems are directly or indirectly caused by the public’s daily behaviors. For example, not saving water may lead to regional water scarcity. Frequent replacement of electronical appliances will bring about electronic waste pollution. Therefore, to solve environmental problems, it is urgent to change people’s bad living habits with scientific guidance and promote environmentally friendly behaviors of the public. To this end, except for promoting popularization of science and national conditions, legislation of environmental protection should be given play in society featuring the rule of law. Improvement of environmental behavior of the public calls for a series of regulation and incentive mechanism.Researches on “environmentally friendly behavior” have been related to psychology, pedagogy, environmental sociology and environmental law etc. From different perspectives, these researches explore major factors that influence the formation of environmentally friendly behavior of the public. Environmental awareness, individual ability of environmental protection and social conditions are among these factors. Observations show that environmentally friendly behavior of Chinese citizens is passive, blind and utilitarian. While from the angle of current legislation situation, China has not paid enough attention to the cultivation of environmental awareness of the public as environmental education only exists as simple clauses; Environmental rights of the public are limited to the right of disclosure and unclear right of accusation and state legal obligation more of enterprises and government than individuals. There are few economic incentive measures that directly adapt to the public. Even though there are few, they are infeasible. Due to unsound legal system, the laws and regulations, as one of social conditions, are not able to play their role.Researching on environmentally friendly behavior of the public is a sure way to address environmental problem, the prerequisite of which lies in legal expression of the goal. On the basis of referring to international legislation on environmentally friendly behavior of the public, China should strengthen legislation on environmental education, establish its legislation model, primary institution and major content, complete mechanism of public participation, ascertain rights of public environment in substantial law and procedural law and increase obligations of environmental protection for the public in daily activities. Through perfecting legal ground, implementing legal responsibilites and giving full play to government, it is expected to streamline economic incentive measures, make them feasible and finally promote the formation of environmentally friendly behavior of the public.