Ant Forest - China`s low-carbon consumption practices driven by a community currency mechanism

Abstract

Ant Forest (mayi senlin, ) is a Chinese low-carbon consumption project initiated in the mid-2010s under China`s personal carbon trading scheme. Based on its internal logic, this projects operation can be associated with a green movement within community currencies (CCs). This study investigates how Ant Forest (a type of CC mechanism) participates in, integrates, and even innovate the mechanism of environmental governance in China. From the CC perspective of a new economics centred on low carbon consumption, a multi-criteria qualitative evaluation tool with a set of indicators is adapted for the case analysis. The results show that the mechanism design of Ant Forest can develop a local circular economy, cultivate environmental awareness among citizens, build a low-carbon consumption community, create community interaction and pool social capital. The case of Ant Forest shows a bottom-up structure which enables public participation in China`s environmental governance.