Huzhou in Zhejiang province has announced two new green standards, namely the Technical Guidelines for Accounting the Value of Climate-Ecological Products in Specific Regions and the Evaluation of Climate-Ecological Friendly Cultural and Tourism Projects.

Developed by the Huzhou municipal meteorological bureau with partners like the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, these standards aim to establish a framework for valuing climate-ecological products and evaluating eco-friendly tourism projects.

The guidelines detail methods for quantifying and valuing climate material supply, climate regulation services, and climate cultural services, enabling climate-ecological resources like fresh air to be fairly priced. This supports innovations in climate-ecological product valuation.

The evaluation standard introduces a system covering meteorology, ecology, and governance, setting principles and grading standards to guide sustainable tourism development. This promotes a shift from traditional scale-focused development to high-quality and ecology-focused initiatives.

Huzhou, a pioneer in integrating eco-meteorology and finance, is leveraging these standards to transform climate-ecological resources into economic benefits.

For example, a project at JW Marriott Hotel in Anji county saw a 140-basis-point loan rate reduction following the assessment and recognition of the value of its climate-ecological products, saving over 8 million yuan ($1.16 million) in interest.

To date, Huzhou has issued over 400 million yuan in climate financing for eco-tourism, agriculture, and solar projects, with an average interest rate reduction of 30 basis points.

The Huzhou municipal meteorological bureau plans to further promote these standards, integrating climate-ecological product value accounting into green finance and industry planning to enhance the city's high-quality development.