Policy Research on Ecological Protection and Rural Vitalization for Supporting Green Development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt

Closed

The proposed knowledge and support technical assistance (TA) cluster will support the green development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) in the People's Republic of China (PRC). It will (i) support research on enabling policies, regulations, and incentive mechanisms needed to achieve the environmental goals and objectives outlined for the YREB region; and (ii) undertake analytical work needed to design and implement demonstration projects. The TA cluster subprojects were developed on the request of the Government of the PRC with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) to support the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) strategic project investments for achieving targets outlined in the YREB development plan. The TA cluster subprojects were included in the country operations business plan for the PRC, 20182020; and are consistent with the focus of ADB's Strategy 2030 and its development agenda of supporting institutional reform and achieving environmentally sustainable growth, which are the strategic priorities of ADB's assistance to the PRC. The TA cluster is aligned with the following impact: green economic development and ecological protection in the YREB achieved (footnote 1). The TA cluster will have the following outcome: design and implementation of eco-compensation and ecosystem protection demonstration projects enhanced. The TA subproject outputs will also reflect the outputs of the overall TA cluster. Output 1: Enabling environment for ecological compensation demonstration strengthened. Output 1 will support the development of policies, regulations, and incentive mechanisms needed to establish appropriate policy and institutional frameworks that will facilitate effective ecological restoration and environmental improvement demonstration projects in the YREB. Output 2: Capacity on integrating poverty reduction targets into innovative financing mechanisms for ecosystem protection enhanced. Output 2 will support the strengthening of the project designers' capacity to effectively undertake analytical assessments needed for designing comprehensive ecosystem protection demonstration projects. Output 3: Knowledge sharing and dissemination of lessons and findings conducted. Output 3 will support the preparation and publication of at least two knowledge products, including policy briefs and case study research reports, which summarize the findings and facilitate the dissemination of key lessons as well as the design and delivery of targeted training programs and study tours. The TA subprojects 2 and 3 (Appendix 2) will primarily contribute to this output.