Document on environmental conservation funding released

Four national government bodies jointly made public a guideline for promoting Eco-environment Oriented Development on Wednesday, as the country strives to address the underfunding of environmental conservation.

For trial implementation, the document was issued by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the National Development and Reform Commission, the People's Bank of China and the National Financial Regulatory Administration on Dec 22.

EOD is a development mode that aims to effectively finance environmental protection funds without increasing the government's debt burden.

The guideline noted EOD can help environmental protection and industrial development complement each other.

In each program under the mode, there are projects for environmental protection and industrial development. While the environmental projects can help increase the income of the industrial ones, the proceeds from industrial development will be partly used to further enhance environmental conservation, according to the document.

Mainly supported by government investment, environmental protection work in China is facing challenges such as inadequate overall investment as well as inadequate investment and financing channels, the document noted.

The EOD mode is expected to alleviate pressure on the government to raise funds for environmental protection and boost investment from social capital and financial institutions, and effectively address the lack of finance in environmental governance.

Financial institutions will be encouraged to explore financial products and services that cater to the characteristics of EOD programs, the document said. They will also streamline the procedures to examine and approve loans for EOD projects and introduce preferential policies for them.