The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) represents the largest infrastructure project of its kind, spanning 3,000 km and linking two nations. This monograph is the first to provide a comprehensive analysis of the environmental governance gaps and reform pathways of the CPEC.
Drawing on primary and secondary sources, project monitoring data and policy analysis, the book examines the reasons for the divergence in environmental standards between China and Pakistan. Pakistan’s 27-year-old environmental legislation, fragmented provincial governance and limited regulatory capacity are inadequate for overseeing a USD 62+ billion corridor designed by a nation with advanced environmental institutions and robust enforcement mechanisms. Rather than merely critiquing current trajectories, the book proposes a three-pillar approach and a bilateral institutional framework in the form of a Joint CPEC Environmental Commission. This commission would have authority over Phase II projects (2025–2035) and could align infrastructure development with climate commitments and biodiversity protection.
Through legal analysis and comparative institutional assessment, the book offers policymakers, civil society, and scholars a practical blueprint for sustainable transnational development.
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) represents the largest infrastructure project of its kind, spanning 3,000 km and linking two nations. This monograph is the first to provide a comprehensive analysis of the environmental governance gaps and reform pathways of the CPEC.
Arvustused
Legal Frameworks and Sustainable Development: Bridging the Governance Gap in the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor offers a timely and interdisciplinary examination of the environmental challenges surrounding one of the worlds most ambitious infrastructure initiatives. Integrating legal analysis with insights from environmental governance, development studies, and policy practice, the book demonstrates how institutional design and regulatory capacity shape sustainability outcomes in CPEC. Its forward-looking focus on CPEC 2.0 and its integrated governance framework make this monograph essential reading for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners concerned with sustainable infrastructure and Belt and Road governance.
Sheng Zhang, Professor at Xian Jiaotong University School of Law
1. Introduction CPEC, Sustainability Challenges, and the Research
Framework
2. Environmental Impacts of CPEC Climate, Biodiversity, Resource
Pressures, and Phase II Projections
3. Comparative Analysis of Environmental
Legal Frameworks China and Pakistan
4. International Environmental Law and
CPEC Obligations Paris Agreement, Biodiversity Conventions, and Compliance
5. CPEC Case Studies: Implementation Challenges and Governance Gaps
6. Policy
Recommendations: Bilateral Legal Harmonisation, International Best Practices,
and CPEC 2.0
7. Stakeholder Roles and Responsibilities Government, Civil
Society, Private Sector, and International Partners
8. Conclusion
Synthesis, Contributions, and a Vision for Sustainable CPEC 2.0
Mehran Idris Khan is an associate professor of Law at the University of International Business and Economics, Beijing. His research examines environmental law, maritime governance, and climate policy, with focus on transnational development corridors, maritime conservation, and environmental justice. Recent work addresses CPEC impacts, ocean governance, the introduction of a novel EIA 2.0 concept, and climate litigation in the Global South.
