The report of the 20th CPC National Congress emphasizes the urgent need to vigorously promote ecological civilization construction and calls for a more robust institutional system for ecological civilization. The system of evaluation and responsibility investigation to build ecological civilization is identified as a crucial safeguard in China’s efforts to advance this cause. Responsive law of this system must be constructed based on the actual circumstances of ecological civilization construction in China. Responsive law centers on achieving public objectives, viewing social pressure as a source of knowledge and an opportunity for self-correction. This kind of law seeks to infuse the spirit of self-correction into government operations, serving as a flexible means of social regulation that adapts to social changes, actively responds to social needs, and promotes substantive justice. From the perspective of responsive law, the system of law of evaluation and responsibility investigation to build ecological civilization needs to be open, cognitive, and dynamic, to realize self-correction of this system, adapt to the green transformation of economic and social development in China, actively respond to demands to protect the environment in the new era and realize ecological justice. Because of the demand to correct views of development, political achievement, and people’s livelihood, responsive law of evaluation and responsibility investigation to build ecological civilization will be established in China at the right time from three key perspectives: national development goals, governmental performance metrics, and citizen welfare considerations. China has made strides in establishing normative foundations for the system of law of evaluation and responsibility investigation to build ecological civilization in Ecological Environment Code. A system featuring an emphasis on resource conservation, environmental friendliness, and ecological conservation has formed for leadership cadre assessments during their tenure or audits upon departure from office or lifelong accountability measures. Furthermore, exploratory steps have been taken towards implementing rule-of-law practices related to assessing responsibility within this domain. However, challenges persist within China’s rule-of-law practice concerning the system of law of evaluation and responsibility investigation to build ecological civilization. These include a tendency toward specificity, consequentialism and homogeneity. Additionally, concerns arise regarding how normative documents impact legal stability, how intra-Party regulations influence legal coordination, and how local legislation affects universality. Given that only a rigorous system underpinned by meticulous adherence can provide reliable guarantees for promoting eco-civilization development, it is suggested that the evaluation and responsibility investigation system should adopt a rule-of-law orientation of comprehensiveness, processuality and differentiation. To achieve a sound responsive rule of law for evaluation and responsibility investigation to build ecological civilization and help advance ecological civilization construction to a new stage in the new era, efforts should be made to complete the paradigm shift from policy-driven progress to rule-of-law guidance, promote the coordination and alignment between intra-Party regulations and national laws, and advance the enactment and refinement of universal norms at the national level as a unified approach to the rule of law.