On 6 Apr. 2024, Premier Li Qiang signed the Order No. 779 of the State Council, promulgating the “Regulation on Ecological Protection Compensation” (生态保护补偿条例, hereinafter the “Regulation”), which came into force on 1 July 2024.
According to the Regulation, ecological protection compensation is an incentive institutional arrangement for providing compensation to entities and individuals engaged in ecological protection according to regulations or agreements through mechanisms such as vertical fiscal compensation, inter-regional horizontal compensation, and market mechanism compensation. The Regulation specifies the categorization of compensation in eight major areas, including forests, grasslands, wetlands, deserts, and oceans.
The highlights of the Regulation are as follows.
- It regulates vertical fiscal compensation. The State shall provide compensation, through fiscal transfers or other methods, to the entities and individuals engaged in the protection of important ecological and environmental factors as well as those who carry out ecological protection in major functional ecological zones.
- It improves inter-regional horizontal compensation. The State shall encourage, guide, and promote the establishment of an ecological protection compensation mechanism through negotiation and other means between the people’s governments of ecologically benefited areas and ecological protection areas.
- It promotes market mechanism compensation. The State shall maximize the role of market mechanisms and encourage social forces and local people’s governments to make ecological protection compensation through the purchase of ecological products and services and other methods according to market rules.
Photo by manos koutras on Unsplash
Contributors: CJO Staff Contributors Team
