Abstract: Currently,Chinas carbon emission trading system is undergoing a transition from policy guidance to the rule of law construction.At present,the administrative legislative approach of the carbon emission trading system is simple,equating “rights” with “quotas”.This approach cannot reflect the dual characteristics of public and private law that carbon emission rights possess,nor can it effectively respond to the development needs of the carbon emission trading market and the standardized construction of the carbon emission trading system.To this end,it is necessary to establish a carbon emission trading system with the carbon emission trading market as the context and the carbon emission “rights” as the logical mainline,consolidate its legal foundation,and clarify its normative approach.From the perspective of context and semantics,the expression of “carbon emission rights” itself implies its private law rights attributes.At the theoretical logic level of the carbon emissions trading system,the second-order theory can provide theoretical support for the transition from “quotas” to “rights” in the carbon emissions trading system;at its practical logic level,the carbon emissions trading system needs to rely on the establishment of “rights” to provide a legal basis for the development of its trading market.Finally,considering the lack of consensus on the attributes of carbon emission rights,the need for stability in the structure of the carbon emission trading system,the diverse characteristics of the rights foundation,and the fact that the sources of rights are not stable and unchanging,a strategy can be considered to temporarily shelve disputes over the ownership of carbon emission rights,focusing on rights and interests,and promoting the standardized construction of the carbon emission trading system in steps and stages with the main line of “rights performance—applicable normative fields—legal protection methods”.

Key words: carbon emission rights, rights and interests, quotas, rights logic, normative approach