The Third Plenary Session: Promoting the dynamicization of ecological compensation standardization

Time: 2013-11-22 Source: China Environment News Author: Su Zhenfeng Sunrong Guo

 

The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee proposed to implement a system of paid use of resources and an ecological compensation system to reform the ecological environmental protection management system. In recent years, some relevant systems and measures involving ecological compensation have been formulated at various levels from the state to the local level. At present, the central forest ecological benefit compensation fund system, grassland ecological compensation system, water resources and soil and water conservation ecological compensation mechanism, and mines have been explored. Responsibility system for environmental governance and ecological restoration, and transfer payment system for key ecological functional areas. But overall, the construction of the ecological compensation system is still relatively weak.

 

Up to now, due to the complexity of the ecological compensation mechanism, it is difficult to obtain consensus in all aspects, resulting in the delay in the introduction of the “Ecological Compensation Regulations” and the “Several Opinions on Establishing and Improving Ecological Compensation Mechanisms” led by the National Development and Reform Commission. The ecological compensation mechanism has not yet been fundamentally established. The interest adjustment pattern of who develops protection and who benefits and who compensates has not yet been formed. The role of promoting ecological environment protection has not yet been fully realized.

 

Establishing an ecological compensation system is of great significance. First of all, this is the requirement to build a beautiful China and realize the harmonious development of man and nature. Vigorously implementing the scientific concept of development means that while vigorously developing the economy, we must effectively protect the natural ecological environment, protect the homeland where human beings survive and prosper, form an organic unity of economic development and ecological construction, and promote sound and rapid economic and social development. At the same time, keep people in harmony with nature. To establish an ecological compensation system is to raise the ecological environment protection to the level of specific management of the country, and to ensure that the development and utilization of resources is built within the sustainable range of the ecosystem's self-recoverability and achieve sustainable development.

 

Second, the establishment of an ecological compensation system can promote regional coordinated development. The implementation of the ecological compensation system is of great significance for maintaining social equity, strengthening support for ecological function zones, and coordinating the coordinated development of regional economies. The "National Main Functional Area Plan" has planned different functional areas, and has formulated corresponding policies for optimizing development, key development, restricting development, and prohibiting development. However, due to the lagging construction of the ecological compensation system, the economic development of the ecological function zone has not been effectively solved for a long time, which has damped the enthusiasm of the people in protecting the ecological environment.

 

Third, the establishment of an ecological compensation system can stimulate ecological protection behavior. The ecological compensation system realizes the internalization of the ecological protection externality through certain policy means, so that the beneficiaries of the ecological protection achievements pay corresponding expenses, realize the reasonable return to the ecological environmental protection investors, and enhance the production and supply capacity of the ecological products. Encourage people to engage in ecological environmental protection investment and increase the value of ecological environment capital, and gradually realize the conscious, voluntary and self-interest of environmental protection behavior.

 

How to improve the ecological compensation system at this stage? The author has the following suggestions:

 

Realize the legalization of ecological compensation. Accelerate the introduction of ecological compensation policies and regulations, and gradually form a complete ecological compensation regulations and implementation rules at the top level. Since ecological compensation involves different interests and responsibilities, it is difficult to form a long-term mechanism by transitional policy measures and administrative measures alone. Therefore, at the legal level, it is necessary to clarify the importance of ecological compensation, clarify the responsibility and obligations of ecological compensation, and provide a legal basis for the standardized operation of the ecological compensation mechanism. Through the legal system to regulate people's economic behavior, reduce transaction costs, reduce transaction friction, and achieve rational allocation and effective use of resources.

 

Standardize ecological compensation. The impact of the ecological environment is multifaceted, and the affected stakeholders are diverse. Therefore, the compensation standard should be gradually developed into a systematic indicator system according to social, economic and ecological classification. First, according to the characteristics of various fields and different types of regions, improve the calculation methods, formulate ecological compensation standards, and gradually form a standard system.

 

The second is to develop and improve the monitoring and evaluation indicator system as soon as possible. Comprehensively use the effects evaluation method, income profit and loss method, stochastic evaluation method and other methods to carry out ecological compensation research, gradually establish a resource and environmental value evaluation system, and improve key national ecological monitoring areas and cross-provincial watershed water quality and water quality national key monitoring points and automatic monitoring network. Develop and improve the monitoring and evaluation indicator system, and provide dynamic monitoring and evaluation information in a timely manner. The third is to establish an assessment system for ecological civilization. It is necessary to incorporate resource consumption, environmental damage, and ecological benefits into the economic and social development evaluation system, and establish a target system, assessment methods, and reward and punishment mechanisms that reflect the requirements of ecological civilization. Through the ecological civilization assessment system, the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of government departments and cadres at all levels are stimulated, and energy conservation, environmental protection and ecological construction are promoted, making it an important guide for the establishment of an ecological compensation system.

 

Realize ecological compensation dynamics. Once the ecological environment is destroyed, it will take several times or even several generations of efforts to recover, and it will never recover. In order to restore and improve the already deteriorating environment, mankind must make long-term and unremitting efforts, and its task is very arduous. Therefore, the ecological compensation system should be dynamic, reflecting the changes in the cost of ecological restoration, reflecting the cumulative effect of ecological environmental damage, reflecting the higher demand for ecological civilization construction results, and ensuring the economy with the ecological compensation that keeps pace with the times. The sustainable development of society enables people to live in harmony with nature.

 

Achieve diversified compensation methods. The diversification of compensation methods is an important means for the smooth implementation of ecological compensation. It can enhance the adaptability and flexibility of compensation, strengthen the pertinence of ecological compensation, and facilitate the smooth development of ecological compensation in different regions. The current compensation model is based on government financial transfer payments, supplemented by one-time compensation, counterpart support, special fund support and tax relief. Economic and legal means should be fully applied to explore diversified ecological compensation methods. Establish a negotiation platform, improve support policies, guide and encourage development areas, beneficiary areas and ecological protection areas, upstream and downstream of river basins to establish horizontal compensation relationships through voluntary negotiation, and adopt capital subsidies, counterpart cooperation, industrial transfer, personnel training, and joint construction of parks, etc. Ways to implement horizontal ecological compensation. Actively use carbon credit transactions, emissions trading, water rights trading, eco-product service signs and other compensation methods to explore market-based compensation models and broaden funding channels.

 

Standardize ecological compensation management. To build an ecological compensation system, it is necessary to establish a unified management organization and implement a unified management approach. First, adhere to the principle of unified compensation. Ecological compensation must adhere to the basic principle of who benefits and who compensates, so that environmental developers should pay for their development and use of resources and environment; environmental damage should compensate for the ecological damage and environmental damage caused by the environment; It is the responsibility and obligation to compensate the areas and people who provide an excellent ecological environment. The second is to establish a unified management organization, strengthen supervision and management of inter-regional, inter-basin economic zones and industrial environmental issues, and coordinate compensation between different functional zones. The third is to implement a unified supervision method. Establish an appraisal and evaluation system for the use of ecological compensation funds, strictly assess the performance of the use of special financial compensation funds, and give better play to the incentive and guidance of fiscal ecological compensation.