Project “The Economics of Ecosystem and Biodiversity (TEEB): Promoting a Sustainable Agriculture and Food Sector (China)” (hereafter referred to as “TEEBAgriFood China”) held its first National Steering Committee Meeting online on July 3rd in Beijing, China.
Led by the European Union and the United Nations Environment Programme, and with UNEP-IEMP as its national host institution, TEEBAgriFood China seeks to recognize, demonstrate and then capture the values of ecosystems and biodiversity in both monetary and non-monetary terms in the agri-food sector so as to inform human activities justified by economic viability and environmental and social sustainability. During the meeting, experts in the committee panel reviewed the materials presented by the UNEP-IEMP team, and deliberated on case area selection, potential for implementation, and steering committee composition for the next stages of the project.
The project steering committee identified the ecological and green development of Tengchong City, Yunnan Province as the case for the scenario analysis. The committee believes that Tengchong City, with its vast endeavors into the development of green organic agriculture, conservation of grassland, forest, wetlands and nature reserves, and the creation of green enterprises and brands, satisfies the requirements of the project’s emphases on policy improvement, conservation of biodiversity, replicability, and private sector involvement. The meeting also ensured local government’s participation in the case study phase of the project. Experts subsequently suggested that sub-national and local government officials with close ties to on-the-ground implementation of the said policies be included in the project steering committee in the future.
First Steering Committee Panel of TEEBAgriFood China Project
