Nature-based solutions to China’s development challenges
Overview
While China’s remarkable industrial development has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty and created a large middle class, it has also caused significant biodiversity loss, ecosystem degradation, and pollution in urban and rural areas. These environmental crises threaten human health and safety and undermine long-term economic development.
In response, China’s government is now promoting a system of ecological civilization to align environmental conservation and socio-economic development through initiatives in natural capital investment, sustainable infrastructure, biodiversity protection and renewable energy. Notably, China has committed to establishing official protection over 30% of its land by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.
SCCEI is collaborating with the Stanford Natural Capital Project (NatCap) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences (RCEES) to advance nature-based policy solutions and support sustainable development in China and around the world. Our research focuses on four key areas: Ecological Civilization, Gross Ecosystem Product, Urban Nature and Health, and Nature and Rural Vitalization.
OUR COLLABORATORS:
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Featured Projects
Ecological Civilization
Ecological Civilization, a new policy system in China, is designed to align environmental conservation with socio-economic development. Our research analyzes this emerging policy framework and identifies opportunities for collaboration with government, enterprises, and civil society.
Gross Ecosystem Product
Gross Ecosystem Product (GEP) is an index that aggregates the total value of ecosystem goods and services into a single monetary metric. Co-developed by NatCap and RCEES, GEP is now being piloted in China on local and national levels.
Urban Nature and Health
With over 1 billion people projected to live in China’s cities by 2030, the mental and physical health of the urban population has become a top priority. Our research identifies how nature solutions can improve public health outcomes, with a focus on the role of urban greenspace.
Nature and Rural Vitalization
China’s rural countryside faces increasing needs for both environmental and economic investment. Our research aims to coordinate investments in natural capital with investments in human capital to transform China’s countryside into a frontier of sustainable development.
Considering the impossibility to cover the entire population of an endangered species in protected areas, a new approach (species conservation redlines) was recently been proposed in China. It constitutes the baseline space for species conservation but mapping and managing a species redline is not clear. In this study, a procedure on how to map habitat conservation redlines for the endangered giant panda was proposed. Panda habitat was first modeled based on field survey and remotely sensed data. Redline area was proposed after comparing three different scenarios, covering different proportions of panda habitat and populations. Results showed that the proposed redline area covered 9358 km2. This area can protect more than 80% of the populations in all mountain regions in the study area, while keeping the connectivity of the habitat. The current nature reserves cover 60% of the redline area. Suggestions on how to manage redline areas inside and outside reserves are proposed, to limit human development activities in panda habitat. Our study provided a new approach for managing panda habitat, and would have implications for conservation of other endangered species in China and the world.
Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education,
March 30, 2016
Relatively little is known about differences in the quality of engineering education within and across countries because of the lack of valid instruments that allow for the assessment and comparison of engineering students’ skill gains. The purpose of our study is to develop and validate instruments that can be used to compare student skill gains in mathematics and physics courses in undergraduate engineering programmes across countries. The approach includes procedures to establish construct validity and other necessary psychometric properties. Drawing on data collected from over 24 engineering experts and 3600 engineering students across Russia and China, we establish that it is possible to develop valid, equitable and cross-nationally comparable instruments that can assess and compare skill gains.
