Governing ocean carbon sinks in China: legal regulatory challenges and future framework pathways

Ocean carbon sinks are receiving growing attention in climate mitigation and sustainable ocean development. This makes their governance an increasingly important legal and institutional issue. Although China has made notable progress in developing ocean carbon sink activities, the corresponding legal framework remains insufficient, particularly in regulatory design and institutional coordination. More importantly, the current challenge does not lie in a complete absence of policy responses but in the lack of a legal regulatory system capable of translating policy objectives into consistent practice. It is precisely this gap between policy and practice that makes it necessary to focus on the legal regulation of ocean carbon sinks. Against this background, this article examines the legal regulation of ocean carbon sinks in China through an integrated analysis of relevant international conventions and domestic laws. It adopts a three-dimensional analytical framework centered on regulatory authorities, regulatory objects, and regulatory bases. The analysis identifies a structural mismatch between the development of ocean carbon sink activities and existing legal regimes. At the international level, the governance of ocean carbon sinks is constrained by the limited role of regulatory authorities, the ambiguity and regulatory stagnation surrounding the standard of marine scientific research, and the lack of specificity and coordination in the applicable international legal framework. At the domestic level, regulation is weakened by overlapping institutional responsibilities, fragmented oversight, inconsistency in the scope of regulatory objects, and the absence of a comprehensive legal framework specifically designed for ocean carbon sinks. On this basis, the article proposes legal pathways for improving China’s ocean carbon sink governance at both the international and domestic levels. Internationally, China should strengthen scientific and regional cooperation to support the future development of international rules. Domestically, China should adopt a phased legislative strategy for building its ocean carbon sink regulatory framework and establish a coordinated oversight mechanism involving multiple regulatory actors. These measures would help enhance legal clarity, regulatory coherence, and institutional coordination, and thereby provide a stronger legal foundation for the sustainable development of ocean carbon sinks in China.