Mainstreaming Natural Capital 2025

Gross Ecosystem Product (GEP) BOX 1 GEP , a metric first developed in China in 2012, is among the indicators available for governments at all levels to measure their ecological performance. GEP is consistent with SEEA-EA and provides an indicator analogous to GDP . It uses market prices and economic techniques to calculate the value that ecosystems provide to the economy each year. This includes the value of production (e.g. agricultural produce), regulating services (e.g. climate resilience) and cultural services (e.g. scientific value). GEP can support environmental policy-making, provide a basis for investments in conservation and restoration, and help measure local officials’ performance. As of 2023, 17 local governments and 50 cities in China have issued guidelines to use GEP and around 200 pilots have been launched, including in Guizhou, Shenzhen and Qinghai. One example, a nature reserve in Deqing county of Zhejiang province, had its GEP valued at RMB 311 million ($43 million) in 2021 – and analysis based on this indicator directly influenced the choice of renewable energy projects approved in the reserve. The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council issued “Guiding Opinions on Establishing the Mechanism of Realizing the Values of GEP” in 2021. Accounting standards for GEP were released in 2022 by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in coordination with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Sources: see endnote.27 Mainstreaming Natural Capital: Advancing the Global Agenda to Integrate Nature in Decision-Making 8