保护生态环境必须依靠制度。在制度建设中,环境法治建设是其中的重要组成部分。我国的环境法治建设经过40多年的发展,数量较多,内容较全,但实施效果却差强人意。究其原因,在于环境法律制度多以软法为主,环境法治呼唤“硬法之治”。建立完备的环境公益诉讼制度即是“硬法之治”的重要体现。 To protect the ecological environment must rely on the system. In the system construction, the construction of environmental law is an important part of it. After more than 40 years of development, the environment and rule of law in our country have a large number and a lot of contents, but the implementation effect is far from satisfactory. The reason is that the environmental law system is mainly soft law, and the environmental law calls for “the rule of hard law.” Establishing a complete system of environmental public interest litigation is an important manifestation of “rule of hard law.”