[Guangming Comment]
Recently, Guangxi and Hunan signed a memorandum of cross-provincial (regional) horizontal ecological compensation mechanism in the Xiangjiang River and Zijiang River Basins, the first-level tributaries of the Yangtze River, to promote the establishment of cross-provincial (regional) horizontal ecological compensation mechanism in the Xiangjiang River and Zijiang River Basins, the first-level tributaries of the Yangtze River, carry out compensation pilot projects, sign compensation agreements, and deepen cross-regional joint prevention and control of ecological and environmental protection.
This year's "Government Work Report" proposes to improve the mechanism for ecological protection compensation and ecological product value realization. The so-called ecological protection compensation refers to the institutional arrangements for compensation to units and individuals that agree to carry out ecological protection through vertical fiscal payments, horizontal compensation between regions and market mechanisms. The realization of ecological products' value transforms ecological advantages into development advantages, meets people's needs for a beautiful ecological environment and high-quality ecological products, and reflects the inherent meaning of "green water and green mountains are gold and silver mountains".
Improving the mechanism for ecological protection compensation and realizing the value of ecological products is an important measure to implement Xi Jinping's ecological civilization thought. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the quality of my country's ecological environment has been significantly improved. All provinces have adapted to local conditions and actively explored paths for industrial ecology and ecological industrialization, and continuously improved the quality of green waters and green mountains, forming a diversified path to realizing the value of ecological products in practice. China South-to-North Water Diversion Group has focused on pumped storage, photovoltaic power generation and other projects in Yunnan, Hunan, Qinghai and other places, and has built a circular ecosystem of "using water to drive energy and promoting water with energy". Lishui, Zhejiang Province has polished regional specialty brands such as "Lishui Mountain Growth", "Lishui Mountain Residence" and "Lishui Mountain Spring", and created a local specialty industry chain such as tea, edible fungi, and traditional Chinese medicinal materials. Based on ecological advantages, we will promote farmers' continuous increase in income through industrial revitalization. Shenzhen has built a full-chain trading mechanism for the protection of carbon sinks by Futian mangroves and embarked on a new path for market-oriented transformation. Development practices in various places have proved that improving the mechanism for ecological protection compensation and ecological product value realization must adhere to the development path of ecological priority, resource conservation, green and low-carbon, and coordinate the relationship between government guidance and market incentives.
Improving the mechanism for ecological protection compensation and realizing the value of ecological products is a whole process improvement that concerns people's livelihood and well-being. The ecological protection compensation mechanism improves residents' quality of life and improves residents' sense of happiness by reducing pollution such as air, water, and soil. The value realization mechanism for ecological products promotes the transformation of traditional products toward low-carbon and green directions through carbon sink trading, green certification and other paths, and meets people's needs for a healthy and sustainable lifestyle. For example, Suqian City, Jiangsu Province, has made the city more ecologically caring by building a "ecological park" and also made the city more ecologically aesthetic value. The mechanism for ecological protection compensation and the value realization of ecological products will also help narrow the income gap between regions, promote social equity, and enhance residents' sense of gain and identity. Quzhou City, Zhejiang Province explores the construction of an agricultural carbon account system, link carbon account labels with financial incentive policies, guide agricultural production to reduce emissions and consolidate carbon, and effectively improve the production capacity of agricultural ecological products.
At present, my country has carried out ecological compensation work in important areas such as forests, grasslands, wetlands, deserts, oceans, rivers and arable land, as well as ecological functional areas at the national level. In recent years, the central government's fiscal compensation has continued to increase. From 2013 to 2023, the transfer payment funds for key ecological functional areas have increased from 42.3 billion yuan to 109.1 billion yuan, with a total investment of 790 billion yuan. Funds for water pollution prevention and control increased from 13 billion yuan in 2015 to 26.7 billion yuan in 2024. In terms of forest ecological benefits compensation and natural forest resources, the compensation standard for state-owned national public welfare forests has been gradually increased to 10 yuan per mu per year, and the compensation standard for collectives and individuals has been increased to 16 yuan per mu per year. Transfer payments in key ecological functional areas have covered more than 800 counties in 31 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) across the country. The ecological protection compensation mechanism, mainly based on government vertical investment, has played a crucial role in maintaining national ecological security and improving the quality of ecological protection.
At the same time, the effectiveness of ecological protection compensation among regions has become increasingly prominent. In terms of ecological compensation for river basin, as of November 2024, a total of 24 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) have established 28 cross-provincial river basin compensation mechanisms, and more than 20 provinces including Zhejiang, Sichuan and Shandong have achieved ecological protection compensation for the entire river basin within the region. The multi-dimensional ecological protection compensation mechanism is an important way to support ecological protection. Only by making efforts in the same direction and forming a joint force can we continuously consolidate the effectiveness of ecological civilization construction.
To improve the mechanism for ecological protection compensation and ecological product value realization requires establishing a systematic thinking, improving incentive and constraint policies, and by connecting supply and demand, we can clear up mechanism bottlenecks. In this process, we must focus on coordinating the relationship between stakeholders such as the government, enterprises, social organizations and the public, pay attention to differences and coordination, and explore new paths for value realization based on local conditions, inject new impetus into my country's green development, and contribute green wisdom to protecting the common earth home of mankind.
Author: Liao Maolin (researcher at the Institute of Ecological Civilization, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
