Moving courts online saves China 9.4 mln tonnes in CO2 emissions

Aerial photo taken on July 17, 2021 shows a view of the grassland in Saibei management district of Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province. (Xinhua/Wu Diansen)

BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Moving courts online is estimated to have helped China cut more than 9.4 million tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2020 by reducing the travel distance of litigants and court staff by over 93 billion kilometers, a report said Tuesday.

Internet technology-enabled online court services have provided easy access to litigation services to people, cutting the legwork, said the report co-issued by the Supreme People's Court.

The estimated carbon emission reduction due to the use of online services saw a 24 percent rise compared with 2019, it said.

Up to 14.5 billion sheets of paper, an equivalent of more than 1 million trees, were also saved thanks to online services last year, the report added.

The estimates were based on the difference between online services and the same work carried out offline.

The number of cases filed online with courts across China was 10.8 million, accounting for 54 percent of suits, the report noted.