The compilation of the Ecological Environment Code essentially involves systematizing over 30 existing laws according to a certain logic, forming a unified legal text with unified purposes, values, and norms. This requires a careful review of relevant legal provisions and innovative provisions for new situations and problems. Actively responding to the new demands of the people from "longing for food and clothing" to "longing for environmental protection", and from "longing for survival" to "longing for ecology", the first article of the draft Ecological Environment Code clearly states that "safeguarding public health and ecological environment rights and interests" is the legislative purpose. This regulation fully embodies the rule of law stance of "putting the people at the center". The draft of the Ecological Environment Code takes "safeguarding public health and ecological environment rights and interests" as the legislative purpose, which is regarded as a major highlight of the compilation of the code, marking a significant progress in the regulation of citizens' environmental rights and obligations in China's ecological environment legislation. It can be said that the Ecological Environment Code is not only a "shield" to protect citizens' environmental rights and interests, but also a "guide" to guide citizens towards green and low-carbon living, directly affecting the quality of life of contemporary and future generations. How to stipulate the environmental rights and obligations of citizens? Everything on Earth is made up of matter, and humans as living beings are no exception. Because the substances that make up the human body are the same as those that make up the environment, it is possible for humans to survive in such a natural environment. This not only demonstrates the close relationship between humans and nature, but also poses a challenge to how laws protect the natural environment. The natural environment for human survival is a closely related system, where sunlight, air, water, plants, and animals do not exist in isolation. They are closely connected through the food chain and cycle back and forth, forming the all encompassing environment needed for human survival. In the natural environment, any break in any link could bring devastating blows to humanity. Unfortunately, in the process of human social development, people have not had such a clear and profound understanding of their relationship with the natural environment. For a long period of time, people believed that natural resources could be inexhaustible, especially since the Industrial Revolution. With the rapid development of science and technology and productivity, environmental pollution and ecological damage have become increasingly serious, directly threatening human health, survival, and development. Faced with the retaliation of nature against humanity and the severe challenges posed by environmental issues, people have finally realized that the new legal system requires both the state and government to take responsibility for protecting the ecological environment, as well as granting citizens the right and obligation to protect the ecological environment and participate in ecological environment governance. In this sense, citizens are important subjects of the Ecological Environment Code. Every citizen is not only a beneficiary of ecological environment protection, but also an actor and participant in ecological environment protection. The draft of the Ecological Environment Code clearly stipulates the rights and obligations of citizens, promoting the participation of the whole nation in the construction of ecological civilization. The development of regulations on citizens' environmental rights and obligations can be traced back to the past, and the provisions on citizens' environmental rights and interests in China's environmental legislation have their own development history. The Environmental Protection Law of the People's Republic of China (Trial), formulated in 1979, is the first specialized environmental legislation since the founding of the People's Republic of China. Article 2 of the law clearly stipulates that "the task of the Environmental Protection Law of the People's Republic of China is to ensure the rational use of the natural environment, prevent and control environmental pollution and ecological damage, create a clean and suitable living and working environment for the people, protect people's health, and promote economic development in the socialist modernization construction." At the same time, "relying on the masses, everyone's hands, protecting the environment, and benefiting the people" is stipulated as the policy of environmental protection work, and "citizens have the right to supervise, report, and accuse units and individuals that pollute and damage the environment. In 1989, the Environmental Protection Law, revised based on the Environmental Protection Law (Trial), clearly stipulated that "all units and individuals have the obligation to protect the environment and have the right to report and accuse units and individuals who pollute and damage the environment." "Units and individuals who have made significant achievements in protecting and improving the environment shall be rewarded by the people's government." Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China has promoted the reform of the ecological civilization system, successively revised relevant laws such as the Environmental Protection Law, the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law, the Forest Law, and formulated laws such as the Soil Pollution Prevention and Control Law, the Yangtze River Protection Law, and the Qinghai Tibet Plateau Ecological Protection Law. By formulating and revising laws, the provisions on citizens' environmental rights and obligations have been further improved. Specifically, in terms of citizens' environmental rights, they include the right to be informed, the right to participate, the right to express themselves, the right to supervise, and the right to request compensation for damages. In addition, individual citizens also enjoy the rights to association, education, and rewards as stipulated by the Constitution and laws. In terms of citizens' ecological and environmental obligations, there are mainly two types: one is advocacy obligations, which require citizens to enhance their awareness of environmental protection and adopt low-carbon and frugal lifestyles. Such obligations generally do not have clear legal consequences; The other type is mandatory obligations, which require citizens to strictly abide by the legal system of ecological environment and take measures to protect the ecological environment in production and life. For violations of mandatory obligations, they need to bear legal responsibility. Compared with the current legislation on ecological environment protection, the draft of the Ecological Environment Code has systematically integrated and innovated the norms of citizens' environmental rights and obligations. Firstly, from the perspective of safeguarding people's health, addressing people's livelihood pain points, and ensuring ecological security, the overall consideration of citizens' environmental rights and obligations is to focus on solving ecological and environmental problems around the people and enhancing people's well-being as the task of compiling the code. According to the national task of protecting and improving the ecological and living environment, preventing and controlling pollution and other public hazards as stipulated by the Constitution, and taking into account the fact that the National Human Rights Action Plan (2021-2025) has separated "environmental rights" from "economic, social, and cultural rights" and clarified them as independent human rights, the draft of the Ecological Environment Code has added comprehensive provisions to safeguard citizens' environmental rights, which have been concretely expanded to reflect comprehensive protection of a better life. Secondly, the draft of the Ecological Environment Code regards individual citizens as important entities in the ecological environment governance system, setting them as rights holders and governance participants, and systematically stipulating citizens' substantive ecological environment rights and derivative rights. In terms of substantive rights, it is stipulated that citizens have the right to enjoy a good environment as individuals; In terms of derivative rights, it is stipulated that citizens have the right to be informed about the ecological environment, the right to participate, the right to express themselves, and the right to supervise; In terms of procedural rights, it is stipulated that citizens have the right to request relief for ecological environment damage. Once again, the draft of the Ecological Environment Code regards citizens as important members of the "human social system - natural ecosystem", setting them as duty bearers and protective actors, advocating for citizens to undertake the obligations of pollution prevention and control, resource conservation, and green low-carbon living, encouraging citizens to voluntarily engage in environmentally friendly lifestyles such as garbage classification and green consumption, and actively participate in ecological environment protection public welfare activities for the benefit of future generations. Citizens engaged in production and business activities are required to strictly abide by legal obligations, accept ecological environment supervision, and work together with enterprises to form the legal basis for national environmental protection. Finally, the draft of the Ecological Environment Code stipulates the right of public participation from the perspective of social governance, encouraging citizens from different industries and fields to participate in ecological environment protection by performing their duties and participating in social organizations. It also stipulates that social organizations for ecological environment protection have the right to file environmental civil public interest lawsuits, and encourages practitioners in the fields of news media, education, technology, etc. to leverage their professional advantages and participate in ecological environment protection, promoting the formation of a pattern of government, enterprise, society, and citizens working together to protect the ecological environment. (The author is a member of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress, a vice chairman of the Environmental Protection and Assets Supervision Committee of the National People's Congress, and a vice chairman of the China Law Society.)