At present, there are still significant academic disputes in the academic community about the private law attributes of China’s ecological damage compensation system and its theoretical basis, which affects the development and implementation of the system. In order to make up for the inadequacy of the public law remedy system, France established the ecological damage compensation system in its Civil Code in 2016. The system is based on the concept of “public commons” in civil law. Ecological damage is damage to ecosystems, the public commons, and its collective interest in human services. Ecological damage in civil law is collective interest damage, not public interest damage. The public enjoys civil rights and interests in ecosystems and other public commons, and also bears the obligation to protect them under civil law. When the civil subject violates its obligation to protect the ecosystem, it will be liable for ecological damage. Ecological damage is different from personal damage to personal civil rights. From the plaintiff qualification, form of liability, prevention system, statute of limitations and other aspects of the traditional tort system to adaptive transformation, France has formed the French ecological damage compensation system framework. The French ecological damages system and its related theories have important implications for exploring the legal basis of the ecological environment damage compensation system in China, handling the relationship between ecological environment damage compensation litigation and environmental civil public interest litigation, and constructing a collaborative relief mechanism between public and private law for ecological damage. Legal innovation is a systematic project, and China still needs to learn from the French experience, establish the concept of public commons, and the civil rights and interests of civil subjects related to ecosystems and the obligation to protect them are clearly stipulated. After perfecting the above series of legislative tasks, China’s ecological damage compensation system will have a solid legal foundation.