Payments for Ecological Services and Eco-Compensation: Practices and Innovations in the People's Republic of China

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.

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.

Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Executive Summary
Introduction
The People’s Republic of China’s Evolving Eco-Compensation Framework: Background and Select Provincial Case Studies
Group 1: Eastern Provinces
Case Study 1: Fujian
Case Study 2: Guangdong
Case Study 3: Hainan
Case Study 4: Jiangsu
Case Study 5: Liaoning
Case Study 6: Zhejiang
Group 2: Inland and Western Provinces
Case Study 7: Anhui
Case Study 8: Chongqing
Case Study 9: Gansu
Case Study 10: Jiangxi
Case Study 11: Ningxia
Case Study 12: Qinghai
Case Study 13: Shanxi
Issues and Options in the People’s Republic of China: Views on the Payments for Ecological Services from Chinese Policy Makers and Experts
Conference Speech 1: Vice Chairman, National Development and Reform Commission
Conference Speech 2: Director General, Department of Nature and Ecological Protection, Ministry of Environmental Protection
Conference Speech 3: Vice Governor, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region
Conference Paper 1: Eco-Compensation in the Environmental Policy Tool Kit
Conference Paper 2: Reflections on the Development of Eco-Compensation Mechanisms in the People’s Republic of China
Conference Paper 3: A Framework Design of River Basin Ecological
Compensation Policy and Its Mechanism for the People’s Republic of China
Conference Paper 4: Intergovernmental Fiscal Relationships for Eco-Compensation in the People’s Republic of China
Conference Paper 5: Estimation of Rates for River Basin Eco-Compensation
Conference Paper 6: Economic Impacts of Eco-Compensation: A Framework for Quantitative Simulation
International Experiences in Markets for Ecosystem Services and the Asian Development Bank’s Perspectives
Keynote Speech: Klaus Gerhaeusser, Director General, Asian Development Bank
Conference Paper 1: Promoting Payments for Ecological Services Approach in the People’s Republic of China
Conference Paper 2: Payments for Ecological Services: Future Prospects for the Asian Development Bank Operations in the People’s Republic of China
Conference Paper 3: Payments for Ecological Services in the Greater Mekong Subregion
Conference Paper 4: Buyer, Regulator, and Enabler—The Government’s Role in Ecosystem Services Markets
Conference Paper 5: Payments for Ecological Services: An Australian Perspective
Conference Paper 6: A Policy Maker’s Guide to Designing Payments for Ecological Services
Toward a More Effective Eco-Compensation Policy Framework