Abstract: The environmental governance system is an important part of the national governance system,and it is also a key element of the Chinese path to modernization to promote the harmonious coexistence of man and nature in depth.At present,the environmental governance system has entered a new stage of continuous deepening reform.Analyzing the advanced driving force and evolutionary logic of system changes from the perspective of historical institutionalism can help improve the foresight and accuracy of reform.Research has found that the evolution of China’s environmental governance system has roughly gone through three stages:the period of inheritance and creation,the period of recovery and transformation,and the period of development and improvement.The combination of subjective factors,interactive factors,and situational factors in the historical development context is the driving force for the environmental governance system to move from “lock-in” to “advancement”.The path of gradual development relies on maintaining a certain balance,coupled with the positive effects of key nodes and the negative effects of veto points,and thus constitutes the evolutionary logic of environmental governance system changes.Under the new situation of comprehensively promoting the construction of a beautiful China,China’s environmental governance system will continue to evolve towards strengthening positive path dependence,enhancing interaction among multiple stakeholders,and promoting inclusive sharing of interests.