What is the effect of the transformation of the "two mountains" in the Yangtze River Delta region? What are the problems? How can we further promote it in the future?

Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, and the concept ispracticeNear-flatThe important connotation of the idea of ecological civilization. Promoting the transformation of the "two mountains" is an effective way to improve the supply level and guarantee capacity of ecological products, and to innovate the system and mechanism for realizing ecological value. In recent years, the Yangtze River Delta region has achieved positive results in the transformation of the "Two Mountains", but there are still problems such as incomplete overall design of the system and mechanism, insufficient characteristics of the value realization path, and imperfect constraints and incentive mechanisms.

Progress and effectiveness of the transformation of the "Two Mountains" in the Yangtze River Delta region

The key to the transformation of the "two mountains" is to promote the transformation of ecological advantages into development advantages, that is, the realization of the value of ecological products. In recent years, the Yangtze River Delta region has made many achievements in promoting the improvement of the supply capacity and value evaluation of ecological products, expanding the channels for the transformation of lucid waters and lush mountains into gold and silver mountains, and promoting the coordinated development of the region.

Actively carry out the establishment of the "Two Mountains" practice and innovation base. By the end of 2023, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment has named and commended 7 batches of 240 "Two Mountains" practice and innovation bases, and a total of 37 county-level administrative regions in the Yangtze River Delta region have been rated as "Two Mountains" practice and innovation bases, mainly involving five categories of "Two Mountains" transformation models, including ecological restoration model, ecological agriculture model, eco-tourism model, ecological industry model and ecological system model, accounting for about 1/6 of the total number of "Two Mountains" practice and innovation bases in the country, of which Zhejiang Province is the province with the largest number of "Two Mountains" practice and innovation bases in the country.

Explore the path to realize the transformation of the "two mountains". The first is to establish and improve the institutional framework for realizing the value of ecological products. Jiangsu Province and Zhejiang Province have issued implementation plans (opinions) for establishing and improving the value realization mechanism of ecological products, and the Yangtze River Delta Ecological Green Integrated Development Demonstration Zone has issued the "Implementation Plan for Establishing and Improving the Value Realization Mechanism of Ecological Products" to promote the realization of green and common prosperity in the Yangtze River Delta region. The second is to innovate the performance evaluation method that prioritizes ecological protection. Zhejiang Province has cancelled the GDP assessment of relatively underdeveloped areas such as 26 counties in mountainous areas, and issued the country's first provincial-level GEP accounting standard, providing a unified reference basis for the assessment, trading and financing of lucid waters and lush mountains. The third is to actively explore the diversified practice of ecological compensation. For example, Zhejiang Province and Anhui Province jointly signed the Agreement on Jointly Building the Xin'an River-Qiandao Lake Ecological Protection and Compensation Model Area, expanding the single financial incentive compensation to a comprehensive compensation covering water quality, upstream and downstream industries, talent cooperation, etc.

Make every effort to create a model for the transformation of the "two mountains". Cities in the Yangtze River Delta region are working in the same direction to actively explore the typical practices and experiences of the "Two Mountains" practice path. The new green development direction of "ecological restoration, environmental improvement, and people's livelihood and prosperity" in Caojing Town, Shanghai, the new model of urban agriculture and rural revitalization in Chongchuan District, Nantong City, Jiangsu Province, and the beautiful water economy of Wencheng County, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, have been displayed and promoted in the "Ecological Civilization Demonstration Construction" column on the website of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. As of the end of the third quarter of 2023, the city's ecological mortgage loan balance was nearly 30 billion yuan, and the ecological credit loan balance exceeded 3 billion yuan.

Problems and challenges in the transformation of the "Two Mountains" in the Yangtze River Delta region

The overall design of the institutional mechanism still needs to be strengthened. In the Yangtze River Delta region, in many links in the realization of the value of ecological products and the transformation of the "two mountains", the construction and guarantee of the rule of law in the fields of natural resource asset property rights system, ecological compensation system, and green finance system still need to be improved. The coordination and linkage between regions is insufficient, and the resources of eco-tourism, eco-agriculture, and eco-brand in the three provinces and one city (Jiangsu Province, Zhejiang Province, Anhui Province, and Shanghai City) have not been effectively integrated, and the joint creation of the "Two Mountains" practice base across administrative regions is still blank. At present, the ecological compensation in the Yangtze River Delta region is mainly concentrated in the Xin'an River-Qiandao Lake, Taipu River, Suwan Chuhe River and other river basins, covering a wide range of areas, and there are still problems such as difficulty in estimating compensation standards, single compensation subject, insufficient compensation power, and lagging compensation supervision. For example, after the third round of compensation in the Xin'an River basin was completed, the upstream Huangshan City has invested more than 19 billion yuan in the comprehensive management of the river basin, and the ecological compensation funds provided by the central government and Zhejiang and Anhui provinces are only 4.8 billion yuan.

The characteristics of the value realization path are not distinctive enough. The Yangtze River Delta region still relies on the traditional path at the county and district level, the homogenization of the "two mountains" transformation model is serious, the convergence of the ecological industry is high, and there are still shortcomings in the innovative development of the ecological industry. For example, the homogenization of tourism products in the mountainous areas of southwest Zhejiang Province and the dispersion of business entities are still relatively prominent, and the reception volume of well-known scenic spots and local scenic spots is obviously differentiated. In addition to Anji, Chun'an, Anhui Shexian and other districts and counties with excellent ecological background and obvious resource advantages, most of the "Two Mountains" practice and innovation bases in the province and even the whole country are not well-known and influential, the driving force of various demonstration sites is limited, and the scale benefits are not prominent enough.

The policy constraint and incentive mechanism needs to be improved. Scientific accounting of the value of ecological products is an important basis for the transformation of the "two mountains", but at present, due to the imperfection of the assessment and evaluation system of natural resource assets, the effective restraint and supervision and management mechanism has not been formed, and the accounting of ecological product value is only in its infancy. Local financial institutions do not recognize or lend to the value of some ecological products. The lack of positive incentive mechanism also leads to the lack of enthusiasm of local governments to actively improve the ecological value of natural resource assets.

Countermeasures and suggestions for the transformation of the "Two Mountains" in the Yangtze River Delta region

Under the new requirements of comprehensively promoting the construction of a beautiful China, the Yangtze River Delta region needs to strengthen the top-level design and overall planning in the transformation of the "two mountains", build a diversified ecological product value realization mechanism, promote the innovation of the "two mountains" transformation model, contribute more experience cases that can be replicated and promoted, and better play the role of pioneering, demonstration and guidance, and radiation and driving.

Strengthen regional linkage and strengthen overall coordination. The first is to deepen the regional coordination and linkage mechanism. Give full play to the role of the Yangtze River Delta regional ecological and environmental protection coordination mechanism, create special measures for the "two mountains" practice and innovation benchmark, encourage regions with superior natural resource endowments to jointly apply for the "two mountains" practice base across regions with small watersheds and functional areas as units, and integrate the value transformation of the "two mountains" into the Yangtze River Delta ecological and environmental protection cooperation, so as to create a national model area for high-quality development.

The second is to establish and improve the legislative system for the transformation of the "two mountains". Strengthen legislative safeguards for the realization of the value of ecological products, encourage local governments to introduce laws, regulations or normative documents in accordance with local conditions, and incorporate the guidelines and policies for the development and management of ecological and environmental resources, ecological environment construction, capital investment and compensation into legal norms.

The third is to strengthen ecological industrialization and industrial ecology. We will guide the transformation of the "Two Mountains" with high-quality development, take the high-quality development of cultural tourism, new energy, biomedicine, health, intelligent manufacturing and other industries as the highlights, highlights and breakthroughs of economic growth, promote the upstream and downstream extension of the industrial chain, and create a reasonable and mutually adaptable regional development spatial pattern and industrial pattern.

Fourth, improve cross-regional ecological compensation mechanisms and policies. In low mountains and hilly areas, explore the organic combination of ecological compensation and the planning of main functional areas, and promote the full coverage of ecological compensation in key areas and key areas; Extend the ecological compensation of transboundary water bodies from a single government governance entity to a multi-subject co-governance model of the public, municipal enterprises, river basin management institutions and governments, so as to promote the fairness and sustainability of compensation; Strengthen communication and coordination among the management and supervision departments of various natural elements, and integrate the types and standards of compensation for natural resource assets owned by the whole people; Accelerate the construction of a market-oriented trading platform for ecological resource assets, including carbon sinks, forest rights, land management rights and other resources.

Broaden the channels for realizing ecological value. The first is to explore and practice a new path for the transformation of the "two mountains" in the Yangtze River Delta region. Implement the strategy of "differentiation of green and high-quality development", create "one county, one product, one township, one village, one product", and take the road of diversified development such as the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, the cultivation of high-end ecological industries, and the protection and beautification of lucid waters and lush mountains; Fully tap the value-added and "spillover" value of natural resources in land, industry and other carriers, promote the benign interaction between ecological advantages and red genes, cultural heritage and other factors, promote the integrated development of the three industries, and effectively extend the industrial chain.

The second is to cultivate the "two mountains" in the Yangtze River Delta region to transform high-quality brands. Vigorously enhance the value of the brand system with regional characteristics of the Yangtze River Delta, such as the birthplace of the "Two Mountains" concept, the Grand Canal culture, the Yangtze River culture, and the Jiangnan culture; Explore the creation of a series of brands of nature reserves, scenic spots, and world heritage sites such as Qianjiangyuan in Zhejiang, Huangshan in Anhui, and Huang(Bohai) Sea Migratory Bird Habitat in Jiangsu.

The third is to innovate the market mechanism for the transformation of the "two mountains" in the Yangtze River Delta region. Promote the shift of ecological capital to "socialization and marketization" in an orderly manner, and effectively cultivate a market trading system for ecological products; Adopt equity cooperation, entrusted management and other methods to attract high-quality social capital, and accelerate the integrated development of ecological material products, ecological cultural products and ecological service products; We will build a green financial system for ecological products, promote financial institutions to set up special funds for the realization of the value of ecological products, support income insurance for agricultural products and loan guarantee insurance for green enterprises, and vigorously support and promote the construction of local "two mountain banks", "ecological banks" and "beautiful banks".

Strengthen the supporting guarantee for value realization. The first is to carry out in-depth basic surveys of natural resources. Accurately grasp the quantity, spatial distribution, functional characteristics, quality level, ownership of rights and interests, protection, development and utilization of natural resource assets in the three provinces and one city, find out the "ecological background", establish an "ecological ledger", and label the "value label" for lucid waters and lush mountains.

The second is to introduce a unified and standardized ecological product value accounting and application system in the Yangtze River Delta region. Introduce standards to clarify the accounting index system, evaluation methods, and data sources, build a cross-provincial GEP accounting big data information sharing platform, and regularly and comprehensively carry out GEP accounting in the Yangtze River Delta region.

The third is to promote the evaluation and assessment of the objectives of the "two mountains" concept. The public value objectives of the "Two Mountains" concept or the public value standard system built around it should be included in the performance appraisal of government functional departments in the Yangtze River Delta region, so as to provide institutional support for government departments to practice the "Two Mountains" concept.

The fourth is to establish a supervision and feedback mechanism that is compatible with the transformation of the "Two Mountains", establish a supervision office for the implementation of the "Two Mountains" concept at the local government level or major relevant departments, and simultaneously establish a normalized monitoring and evaluation feedback mechanism for the effectiveness of the transformation of the "Two Mountains".

Fifth, establish a market incentive mechanism. Promote the internalization of the external costs of the ecological environment by multiple means, promote the trading of rights and interests of ecological resources, open up the market channel for the transformation of the "two mountains", encourage cooperation between developed regions and underdeveloped but ecologically good regions, promote the coordinated development of ecological product value realization platforms and carbon emission rights trading platforms, and simultaneously promote the construction of corresponding market systems and the formulation of a series of standards, so as to promote the realization of the value of ecological products with the "hand of the market".

Author Affilications:Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment