Developing Future Ecosystem Service Payments In China

Policy makers in the People's Republic of China have been experimenting with new approaches to environmental management, resulting in a wide array of policy and program innovations under the broad heading of eco-compensation. Many of these are market-based instruments, particularly payments for ecological services---currently an emerging policy debate regarding the extent to which beneficiaries should pay, and the providers should be compensated---for the provision of natural resources and environmental services to promote sustainable, balanced growth. These proceedings are a collection of papers presented at the International Conference on Payments for Ecological Services convened in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in September 2009 to support eco-compensation programs in the country.

Drawing on the literature concerning effective Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) programmes and on more than 30 case studies, this book aims to identify good practice in the design and implementation of PES programmes so as to enhance their environmental and cost effectiveness.

The new Accountability Mechanism became effective on 24 May 2012 after a full-scale review of the 2003 version. The review resulted in clearer and closer collaboration between the functions of problem solving—handled by the Office of the Special Project Facilitator (OSPF)—and those of compliance review by the Office of the Compliance Review Panel (OCRP). This report marks the first joint Accountability Mechanism Annual Report of the OSPF and OCRP in the spirit of promoting synergy in the new Accountability Mechanism. It outlines complaint-related activities of the OSPF and OCRP in 2012 and touches on its outreach and the information-sharing initiatives of the new Accountability Mechanism. Background ADB's Accountability Mechanism allows persons affected by ADB-assisted projects to submit complaints about harm resulting from those projects. It is guided by the principles of: responsiveness to project-affected persons’ concerns; fairness to all stakeholders; independence and transparency; cost effectiveness and efficiency; and complementing other ADB systems (including supervision, audit, and quality control).

This report documents recent policy innovations for the conservation and management of ecosystem services in China. Policymakers have become increasingly interested in developing new approaches to address China's multiplying conservation challenges and resource constraints in face of break-neck economic growth. This has led China's central and local governments to rapidly expand the range of policy and program innovations, many under the broad heading of "eco-compensation," that are laying the groundwork for the development of ecosystem services markets. In particular, local governments have been important contributors to this process, rapidly adapting centrally designed "eco-compensation" programs to their own needs, creating "hybrids"--programs that weave together and draw upon multiple central and provincial policies and funding sources--and creating their own distinct initiatives that often feed back into central government policy development. While not an exhaustive account of all payments (PES) and markets (MES) for ecosystem services in China, it provides an overview of a range of policy innovations for watershed ecosystem services, carbon markets, forest conservation, improving landscape amenities, biodiversity conservation and anti-desertification. The results of this report suggest that there are tremendous opportunities to draw lessons from the significant degree of local innovation that is occurring and to connect innovations from around the globe to inform developments in China.

"Ecosystem Services and Management Strategy in China" is a two-year international cooperation project that culminated from the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development’s Task Force on Ecosystem Services and Management. It combines case studies, scenario analysis, and stakeholder consultations that focus on Chinese forest, grassland and wetland ecosystems and assesses the economic and social benefits of sustainable ecosystems management. It also identifies better practices in ecosystem management from Chinese and international experience and recommends a more intensive integration of ecosystem services into decision-making processes. In November 2010, the Task Force presented five strategic policy proposals for the implementation of sustainable management for Chinese ecosystems. These proposals were extremely well-received by senior decision makers and have since been adopted by national government agencies. The book represents a valuable reference work for researchers and professionals working in related areas. Professor Yiyu Chen worked as president at the National Natural Science Foundation of China from 2004 to early 2013 and is Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Professor Beate Jessel works as president at the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, Germany. Professor Bojie Fu works at the Research Center of Eco-Environment Sciences, CAS and is Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Professor Xiubo Yu works at the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Dr.Jamie Pittock is a Senior Lecturer at the Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, Australia.

The Asian Development Bank and the National Development and Reform Commission of the People's Republic of China (PRC) undertook a study on eco-compensation regulations development in the country, on which this publication is based. The study examined the PRC's theory, practice, and legislation governing eco-compensation in selected ecological areas to map out the scope and content of a national eco-compensation regulation. Pursuit of its higher agenda of ecological civilization and development of its national eco-compensation regulation will require the PRC to capture the diversity that subnational projects have tapped, integrate its experience with eco-compensation at all levels of government into a coherent national regulatory framework, and harmonize this framework with existing laws and other legal instruments.

Economic growth has multiplied the environmental challenges faced by the People's Republic of China but has also created opportunities, by increasing available funding for environmental management and conservation. At the nexus of these countervailing trends, policy makers have been experimenting with new approaches to environmental management under the broad heading of "eco-compensation". Many of these are market-based, particularly payments for ecosystem services; an emerging policy debate is regarding the extent to which beneficiaries should pay, and the providers should be compensated, for the provision of natural resources and environmental services to promote sustainable, balanced growth. This paper synthesizes the findings of the International Conference on Payments for Ecological Services convened in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in September 2009 to support eco-compensation programs in the country.