PAGE has conducted a joint green economy scoping mission in Jiangsu Province, China. In cooperation with the Policy Research Center for Environment and Economy (PRCEE) and the government of Jiangsu Province, the three day scoping mission included a knowledge sharing event for local stakeholders, a workshop at which local experts and government officials discussed inclusive green economy successes and challenges, and a field visit to the city of Yancheng. The scoping mission marked the first official PAGE China event in Jiangsu, and work on inclusive green economy will continue over the next few years.
The province of Jiangsu is well positioned to transition to an inclusive green economy; it has already achieved a relatively high level of economic development and has lower pollution intensity and resource consumption per unit of GDP than most other provinces in China. Jiangsu is also China’s leading province in the implementation of Ecological Civilization, the country’s national sustainable development strategy, and has invested heavily in green economy policies and preventing the crossing of ecological “red-lines”. Jiangsu’s environmental goods and services sector is the largest in China, both in terms of the total number of enterprises operating in this sector and in terms of the total value of output. However, due to high population density and the prevalence of heavy industry, Jiangsu Province is still placing critical levels of pressure on its environment.
During the scoping mission, Government officials, local experts, businesses and representatives from international institutions (UNEP, UNIDO, UNDP, ILO, GGGI and WWF) shared experiences and expertise on different areas of green economy and discussed the successes and challenges of Jiangsu’s transition to an inclusive green economy, particularly in the context of implementing the provincial 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020). The provincial government and PAGE partner organizations all expressed strong commitment to working together to help Jiangsu Province move towards an inclusive and sustainable economy that puts human well-being at the centre of development.
Following the scoping mission, a stocktaking report will be finalized to: 1) identify successes and good practices in both the public and private sectors and at the sub-provincial level that can be shared with other provinces and countries looking to transition towards an inclusive green economy; and 2) to identify and analyse major green economy policy implementation challenges, to which targeted solutions will be explored in the future phases of PAGE work with the Jiangsu Provincial Government.