China–WBG Global Center for Ecological Systems and Transitions

Background

The China–WBG Global Center for Ecological Systems and Transitions (Global Knowledge Center/GKC) is a partnership between the Ministry of Finance of the People’s Republic of China and the World Bank Group (WBG). Launched in December 2024, the GKC capitalizes China’s unique development experience, especially in ecosystem restoration, and leverages growing global knowledge including World Bank Group’s expertise and global networks, bringing together stakeholders from around the world to exchange ideas, experience, and best practices, all the while promoting the creation of new knowledge.

Large-scale ecosystem restoration requires a comprehensive approach that integrates science, policy, finance and private sector and community engagement. The GKC will emphasize natural capital as the backbone for economic prosperity and planetary health, and for the provision of important ecosystem services such as hydrological flow regulation, soil retention, carbon sinks, and pollination.

As the WBG deepens its role as a Knowledge Bank, it is transforming its knowledge architecture to meet client demand for new ideas to tackle development challenges. As a global development bank with offices in 120 countries, the WBG has a unique capacity to deploy a mix of global and country knowledge to help clients tackle pressing development challenges.

The GKC will provide a knowledge exchange platform for countries facing similar development challenges, and foster impacts through experience dissemination, policy support and knowledge products at a global level.

The GKC will focus on three interconnected technical areas, together forming a comprehensive approach to ecosystem restoration.

1. Ecosystem Restoration in the Broader Development Context emphasizes the importance of promoting spatial planning and zoning tools to effectively plan and zone areas for ecosystem restoration. It also involves understanding the drivers of degradation and using integrated planning approaches to address these issues. Additionally, the role of nature-based solutions in contributing to development, climate adaptation, and resilience will be explored.
2. Developing and Sharing Technical Best Practices involves disseminating best practices in implementing ecosystem restoration at site level. These include soil conservation techniques in degraded landscapes, planning for large-scale forest planting, water-smart planting techniques, solutions for managing droughts and floods, as well as incentives and stakeholder engagement approaches to encourage participation in ecosystem restoration efforts. Attention will be given to leveraging artificial intelligence and remote sensing technologies to enhance restoration efforts.
3. Financing and Realizing Economic Benefits focuses on the role of environmental-economic data, tools and analysis that go beyond GDP in measuring economic progress, building local and national capacity in making the economic case for restoration, and advancing policies for investing in landscape management (both private and public) to create green jobs and grow economies, ensuring the efficient use of public funds for ecosystem restoration, including identifying and utilizing private sector financing solutions to support restoration projects.