The responsible persons of the Ministry of Justice and the National Development and Reform Commission answered reporters' questions on the "Regulations on Ecological Protection and Compensation".

On April 6, 2024, Premier Li Qiang signed Order No. 779 of the State Council, promulgating the Regulations on Ecological Protection and Compensation (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations"), which will come into force on June 1, 2024. A few days ago, responsible persons of the Ministry of Justice and the National Development and Reform Commission answered reporters' questions on issues related to the "Regulations."

　　Q: Please briefly introduce the background of the promulgation of the Regulations.

　　A: The compensation system for ecological protection is an important part of the ecological civilization system. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core has taken the establishment and improvement of the ecological protection compensation mechanism as an important measure to build an ecological civilization, and has made overall plans and comprehensively promoted the reform of the ecological protection compensation system and related fields, and accelerated the ecological protection compensation work. In 2016, the General Office of the State Council issued the Opinions on Improving the Compensation Mechanism for Ecological Protection. In 2021, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council issued the Opinions on Deepening the Reform of the Ecological Protection Compensation System. At present, the mainland has basically built the ecological protection compensation mechanism with the world's widest coverage, the largest number of beneficiaries and the largest investment, covering forests, grasslands, wetlands, deserts, oceans, water flows, cultivated land and other ecological and environmental elements, and has made significant progress in cross-regional and cross-basin ecological protection compensation pilots, which have played an important role in consolidating the achievements of ecological civilization construction, consolidating and expanding the achievements of poverty alleviation, and promoting regional coordinated and sustainable development.

　　While the compensation work for ecological protection in mainland China has achieved remarkable results, there are also some outstanding problems that need to be solved urgently, such as limited compensation coverage, insufficient focus, weak rewards and punishments, and difficulty in coordinating with relevant subjects. From the institutional perspective, the relevant institutional norms of ecological protection compensation are scattered in some documents, laws and administrative regulations, and the relevant content is not systematic and comprehensive, so it is urgent to formulate a basic and comprehensive administrative regulation to give full play to the role of the rule of law in consolidating the foundation, stabilizing expectations and benefiting the long-term.

　　The National Development and Reform Commission submitted a draft for review to the State Council on the basis of in-depth investigation and research, extensive listening to opinions, and soliciting opinions from the public. The Ministry of Justice solicited the opinions of relevant central departments and units, local people's governments, academic institutions, associations, law firms, enterprises, etc., went to the field to conduct special investigations, communicated and coordinated with relevant parties on key issues on many occasions, and jointly revised and formed the draft Regulations with the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments.

　　Q: What is the general idea behind the formulation of the Regulations?

　　Answer: The "Regulations" thoroughly implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, especially Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization and Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law, mainly following the following ideas: First, adhere to the problem orientation, focus on the current problems, improve institutional measures, implement the decision-making and deployment of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on ecological protection compensation, and fix effective experience and practices in the form of administrative regulations. The second is to grasp the positioning of the "Regulations" as the basic and comprehensive administrative regulations for ecological protection compensation, focusing on establishing the basic system rules for ecological protection compensation, and at the same time doing a good job of connecting with relevant laws and regulations. The third is to adhere to the overall planning and coordinated advancement, and the design of relevant systems is not only based on the current reality, maintaining the continuity and stability of the existing policies and systems, but also leaving the necessary institutional space for all regions and departments to continue to explore and innovate in combination with the actual situation in the future.

　　Q: What is the meaning of ecological protection compensation, and what are the ways of ecological protection compensation?

　　Answer: The "Regulations" clearly stipulate that ecological protection compensation refers to the incentive system arrangement for units and individuals who carry out ecological protection in accordance with regulations or agreements through financial vertical compensation, inter-regional horizontal compensation, market mechanism compensation and other mechanisms. Ecological protection compensation can take the form of financial compensation, counterpart cooperation, industrial transfer, talent training, joint construction of parks, purchase of ecological products and services, and other forms of compensation.

　　Q: What principles should be followed in carrying out ecological protection compensation?

　　Answer: The "Regulations" clearly stipulate that the ecological protection compensation work adheres to the leadership of the Communist Party of China, adheres to the combination of government leadership, social participation and market regulation, attaches equal importance to incentives and constraints, adheres to overall planning and coordinated promotion, and adheres to the unity of ecological benefits, economic benefits and social benefits.

　　Q: What are the provisions of the Regulations on the responsibilities of the government and its relevant departments in ecological protection compensation?

　　Answer: First, the people's governments at or above the county level should strengthen the organization and leadership of ecological protection compensation, incorporate ecological protection compensation work into the national economic and social development plan, and build a stable ecological protection compensation fund investment mechanism. Second, the State Council's departments of development and reform, finance, natural resources, ecology and environment, water administration, housing and urban-rural construction, agriculture and rural affairs, forestry and grassland are responsible for ecological protection and compensation in accordance with their respective responsibilities. Third, the local people's governments at or above the county level shall establish and improve the relevant mechanisms for ecological protection compensation, and urge their subordinate departments and lower-level people's governments to carry out ecological protection compensation work;

　　Question: What are the provisions of the "Regulations" in regulating financial vertical compensation?

　　Answer: First, the state shall compensate units and individuals who carry out the protection of important ecological and environmental elements, as well as units and individuals who carry out ecological protection in key ecological function areas, ecological protection red lines, nature reserves, and other important ecological function areas demarcated in accordance with the law, through financial transfer payments and other means. Second, the central government shall compensate units and individuals that carry out the protection of important ecological and environmental elements according to the classification of forests, grasslands, wetlands, deserts, oceans, water flows, cultivated land, and so on; the specific scope and method of compensation shall be determined by category by taking into account factors such as the level of regional economic and social development, financial affordability, and the effectiveness of ecological protection, and shall be announced to the public in accordance with the law together with the use of compensation funds and their supervision and management. Third, the relevant local people's governments may establish a categorical compensation system in light of actual conditions, and increase the intensity of compensation for units and individuals that carry out the protection of important ecological and environmental elements. Fourth, the central government arranges transfer payments for key ecological function areas, and gradually increases the scale of transfer payments according to the financial situation; according to the characteristics of ecological benefit spillover, importance of ecological functions, and sensitivity and vulnerability of the ecological environment, differentiated compensation is implemented in the transfer payment of key ecological function areas, and the support for areas with a high proportion of ecological protection red line coverage is increased. Fifth, the state shall establish and improve the compensation mechanism for the ecological protection of the nature reserve system with national parks as the main body, and the central and local governments shall compensate units and individuals that carry out the protection of nature reserves by classification and level, and reasonably determine the scale of transfer payments according to the type, level, scale and effectiveness of nature reserves. Sixth, the ecological protection compensation funds obtained by the local people's governments and their relevant departments shall be used in accordance with the prescribed purposes; the local people's governments and their relevant departments shall, in accordance with the regulations, promptly compensate the ecological protection compensation funds to the units and individuals carrying out ecological protection, and shall not withhold, occupy, misappropriate, or default; The relevant local people's governments shall, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the State, steadily promote the overall use of ecological protection compensation funds through different channels.

　　Q: What are the provisions of the Regulations on improving inter-regional horizontal compensation?

　　Answer: First, the state encourages, guides, and promotes the establishment of ecological protection compensation mechanisms between ecologically beneficiary areas and the people's governments of ecological protection areas through consultation and other means; Second, inter-regional horizontal ecological protection compensation is carried out in areas such as the upstream and downstream, left and right banks, main and tributaries of river basins, areas where important ecological and environmental elements are located, and other areas with important ecological functions, water sources of major water diversion projects, and protected areas along the route. Third, the central and provincial governments can provide guidance and support for the implementation of inter-regional horizontal ecological protection compensation in key areas across provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, autonomous prefectures and cities divided into districts where ecological functions are particularly important; Fourth, to carry out inter-regional horizontal ecological protection compensation, the relevant local people's governments shall sign a written agreement and strictly implement it.

　　Q: What are the provisions of the "Regulations" on promoting compensation for market mechanisms?

　　Answer: First, the state should give full play to the role of market mechanisms in ecological protection compensation, promote the market-oriented development of ecological protection compensation, and expand the value realization model of ecological products; Second, the state should establish and improve the trading mechanism of carbon emission rights, pollutant discharge rights, water rights, carbon sink rights and interests, promote the construction of trading markets, and improve trading rules. Third, the state encourages and supports the organic integration of ecological protection and the development of ecological industries, and adopts a variety of ways to develop ecological industries under the premise of ensuring ecological benefits, so as to promote the transformation of ecological advantages into industrial advantages and improve the value of ecological products. Fourth, the state encourages and guides social funds to establish market-oriented ecological protection compensation funds, and participates in ecological protection compensation in an orderly manner in accordance with the law.

　　Question: What are the provisions of the "Regulations" on strengthening safeguards and supervision and management?

　　Answer: First, the government and its relevant departments shall, in accordance with the regulations, promptly issue and approve the allocation of ecological protection compensation funds, strengthen the supervision and management of the use of funds, implement the budget performance management of ecological protection compensation funds in accordance with regulations, and improve the incentive and restraint mechanism for the implementation of ecological protection responsibilities; Second, the state promotes the unified confirmation and registration of natural resource rights, improves the monitoring and support system for ecological protection compensation, establishes a statistical system for ecological protection compensation, and improves the standard system for ecological protection compensation, so as to provide technical support for ecological protection compensation. Third, the state should improve the fiscal, financial and other policy measures that are compatible with ecological protection compensation, give full play to the regulatory function of fiscal and taxation policies, and improve the green financial system. Fourth, the state should establish and improve a unified green product standard, certification and labeling system, promote the construction of green product market, implement government green procurement policies, and establish a green procurement guidance mechanism. Fifth, the government and relevant departments should strengthen the publicity of ecological protection compensation policies and implementation effects through various forms. Sixth, the government and relevant departments shall disclose the situation of ecological protection compensation work in a timely manner in accordance with the law, and accept social supervision and public opinion supervision;

　　Q: In order to ensure the smooth implementation of the "Regulations", what work needs to be focused on?

　　Answer: In order to ensure the smooth implementation of the "Regulations", the National Development and Reform Commission will work with the Ministry of Justice and other relevant departments to do the following work: First, increase publicity and interpretation. The "Regulations" are highly professional, and it is necessary to take a variety of ways to do a good job in the publicity, interpretation, training and guidance of the "Regulations", to help the staff of relevant departments, ecological protection entities and other units and individuals to better grasp the content of the "Regulations", and create a good environment for the smooth implementation of the "Regulations". Second, we should pay close attention to improving the relevant supporting regulations. The National Development and Reform Commission will work with relevant departments to improve the supporting regulations in a timely manner and further implement the content of the "Regulations". The third is to establish and improve supporting measures in relevant fields. The "Regulations" on the promotion of the unified confirmation of natural resources registration, the establishment and improvement of ecological protection compensation monitoring support system, statistical system, standard system, the establishment and improvement of a unified green product standards, certification, labeling system and other supporting measures have been clearly stipulated, the next step will be the implementation of the "Regulations" as an opportunity to coordinate and integrate all aspects of the force, accelerate the establishment and improvement of supporting measures in related fields, to provide policy support and technical support for ecological protection compensation.

Source: "Ministry of Justice" WeChat public account China popular law