国外生态补偿机制设计中的关键要素及启示

Key elements in designing mechanism for payments for ecosystem services abroad and the enlightenment

近年来,生态补偿已成为国内外学界关注的热点,各国相关实践也日益广泛深入。国外关于生态补偿的概念界定并不一致,不同国家的生态补偿实践也不尽相同,但通过考察现有相关研究和实践,可以总结和归纳出各国在生态补偿机制设计中均需考虑的一些关键要素。其中,生态补偿概念的构成要素包括外部性、条件性和自愿性,反映出生态补偿区别于其他环境保护政策工具所具有的核心特征;生态补偿效率的影响要素指向生态补偿的环境效益和成本效益,决定了生态补偿目的能否实现以及实现的程度和代价。提高环境效益的关键在于满足登记、目标锁定、额外性、联结和持续性的要求,避免泄漏、不正当激励和动机挤出效应的出现,而提高成本效益的关键则在于降低交易成本;生态补偿实施的制约要素是指机制运行的前提条件和事后保障,直接影响生态补偿最终能否真正落实和有效实施,包括制度背景例如生态系统服务提供者的财产使用权、透明度、附加目标、商业和技术支持等,以及事后的监督与评估,这也是条件性的必然要求。中国在建立健全生态补偿机制时,应当立足于本国的制度背景,同时借鉴国外先进经验,明确生态补偿的内涵和实质,从制度创新出发,将政府补偿和市场交易相融合,在生态补偿实施方案或协议的拟定中,将各项关键要素融入精密的条款设计中,明确利益相关各方的角色和责任,更好地实现生态补偿防止生态系统服务退化、促进生态系统服务恢复以及确保生态系统服务持续提供的功能,达成效益、效率和公平等价值目标。

Currently, Payments for Ecosystem Services （PES） has attracted increasing attention among academia both in China and abroad, and the relevant practices in various countries have become increasingly extensive and intensive. In different countries the concepts and the practices of PES are not consistent with each other, however, we can summarize the same key elements in designing mechanism for PES through existing related researches and practices. Constituent elements of the definition including externality, conditionality and voluntariness reflect the distinct features of PES which distinguish it from other approaches of environmental protection; Influencing elements of PES efficiency refer to the environmental effectiveness and the cost-effectiveness, and they determine the accomplishment of the purpose of PES and its degree and cost. The key to improve the environmental effectiveness is to meet the requirements of enrolment, targeting, additionality, link between land use and ES, permanence, and to avoid leakage, perverse incentives and crowding-out effect. The key to improve the cost-effectiveness is to reduce transaction costs. Restrictive elements of PES indicate the preconditions and safeguards of operation, and directly affect the effective implementation of PES, including the institutional context such as property tenure, transparency, additional objectives, business and technical support, and the monitoring and evaluation which is the inevitable requirement of conditionality. In order to establish and improve PES mechanism in China, we should consider China＇ s institutional context, learn from the advanced experience of foreign countries, clarify the connotation and essence of PES, combine the government-financed PES and payments based on markets, integrate the key elements into the design of the clauses of PES implementation plans or contracts, and specify the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders, so as to achieve the function of preventing the ecosystem services degradation, promote the ecosystem services recovery, ensure permanent ecosystem services, and achieve the goals of effectiveness, efficiency and equity.