生态环境服务付费的国际经验及其对中国的启示

生态环境服务付费在国际上引起关注的三个背景是:(1)生态问题的凸显;(2)新古典经济学意识形态的流行;(3)保护环境和减少贫困一石两鸟的期望。与生态环境服务付费理念相似的概念,在我国一般被称为生态补偿。生态补偿在我国受到重视是国情使然。这一国情与上述三个背景有共通之处,也有独特之处。这决定了生态环境服务付费的国际经验对我国生态补偿有潜在的借鉴意义,同时生态补偿又有中国特色。生态环境服务付费的国际经验对我国的主要启示是:(1)需要提高下游(环境服务需求方)的生态补偿意识;(2)公平的生态补偿机制要求考虑上游保护生态环境的机会成本;(3)权属明晰化是使生态补偿机制长久可持续的前提;(4)政府应鼓励地方创新形式多样的补偿形式;等等。

Payment for Environmental Services: International Practice and Lessons and Implication for China

Payment for Environmental Services (PES) draws much attention in the international arena with the following three backgrounds: 1) ecosystem or ecological problems take over the conventional environmental pollution as the most important environmental issues; 2) the neo-classic economics ideology prevails these years; 3) policy makers are interested to explore the potentials of PES as an instrument to solve the environmental problems and reduce poverty at the same time. Ecological Compensation (EC) in China is something similar to PES. The almost same backgrounds in China as worldwide make EC be much emphasized recent years although EC has its Chinese characteristics. China could learn from international PES practice and lessons, such as 1) the compensation awareness of the downstream should be raised as it is going to be the main drive of the PES scheme; 2) the opportunity costs of environmental conservation of the upstream should be accounted in a equitable PES scheme; 3) clear tenure system would help PES scheme sustainable; 4) PES scheme will take various forms instead of a uniform one.