Ambitious vision to offer alternate path for other developing nations, experts say China's wide-ranging green transformation in the next five years and
beyond, something emphasized at a key Party meeting in October, marks a
historic turning point in the country's development mode, experts said. The ambitious vision is also of global significance, they said,
because it will offer other developing nations an alternate path to
prosperity rather than just following in the footsteps of developed
countries. They cautioned, however, that while China is increasingly prepared
for the transformation in terms of its technological and economic
strength, the country still faces complicated and arduous tasks in
hammering out systematic action plans to fulfill the vision. To achieve a fundamental improvement in environmental quality by
2035, China will endeavor to make production and lifestyles green
throughout all areas of society, according to a proposal unveiled in
November after the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee
of the Communist Party of China in October. The country will make efforts to see marked progress in the
transformation during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period,
according to the proposal. Aside from strengthening law and policy support for green
development, for example, it said the country will strive to promote
green finance and encourage green technological innovations. Green
buildings will also be promoted. Green development has been an underlying trend since the 18th CPC
National Congress in 2012, and the proposal shows that, with stronger
governance capabilities, the central authorities have made sustained
efforts to further develop Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological
Civilization, a concept promoted by Xi that advocates balanced and
sustainable development, said Wang Yi, a member of the Standing
Committee of the National People's Congress and the NPC's Environmental
Protection and Resources Conservation Committee. Green development is one of President Xi Jinping's top concerns. Via
video link in Beijing at the Leaders' Side Event on Safeguarding the
Planet of the G20 Riyadh Summit on Nov 22, for example, he said China
will pursue clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient use of energy and
accelerate the growth of new energy and green industries to promote
greener economic and social development in all respects. Instead of considering GDP as the core focus of development, the
central authorities have been tending to prioritize environmental
protection in their governance philosophy, or at least emphasizing the
need to balance economic development and environmental protection, he
said. Previously, the country mainly resorted to "end-of-pipe
solutions"-pollution-control approaches that clean up pollutants at the
point where they enter the environment-in its environmental governance.
Now it has been shifting to a more systematic approach of reforming the
economic development mode by adjusting the structures of industry,
energy consumption, transportation and land use, said Wang, who is also
vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institutes of Science
and Development. Ren Yong, head of the Environmental Development Center of the
Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said the emphasis on "green" in the
proposal further enriched and clarified the concept of high-quality
development that the central authorities have been promoting to help
realize the goal of building China into a great modern socialist country
that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious
and beautiful by the middle of the century. "The sectors that are related to green are so wide-ranging in the
proposal that not a single necessary area is neglected," he said. Ren was a lead author of the Special Policy Study on Green Transition
and Sustainable Social Governance released in September by the China
Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development, a
high-level international advisory body for the Chinese government. Strong consensus He said an increasingly strong consensus has built up in China that
the causes of environmental pollution and ecosystem damage are rooted in
styles of production and life. "The fundamental solution to address environmental problems is to make the styles rational and green," Ren said. As Japan's experience had proved, the contribution "end-of-pipe
solutions" can make to environmental management is limited, he said.
Research had found that even when Japan's investment in sulfur dioxide
disposal facilities peaked in the 1970s, such solutions only contributed
to about 30 percent of the reduction in emissions. Ren said Japan's major achievements in addressing sulfur dioxide
pollution had come from making its energy cleaner, enhancing energy
efficiency and adjusting the structures of industry and energy
consumption. With generally solid economic and technological foundations for
extending its environmental governance efforts from the end of the pipe
to the entire production chain, China's central authorities mapped out a
general blueprint for a wide-ranging green transformation at the Fifth
Plenary Session. The country, however, still needs to work out suitable
action plans for different regions and detailed road maps for different
industries. While it may be easier for developed regions in eastern China to
adjust their industrial structures and phase out small, polluting
factories, Ren said action plans should be drafted in a more detailed
manner for central and western regions based on their development levels
to facilitate their sustained and phased transformation efforts. He said the road maps for different industries should cover all production-related procedures, ranging from design to recycling. "It's a systematic, comprehensive and complicated project," he said,
adding that as well as having the necessary technological and financial
capabilities, the country also needs to update regulations, roll out
incentives and set industrial standards to make the transformation work. Green lifestyle Ren said pollution from China's consumption sector is increasing,
making the promotion of a green lifestyle a key part of the country's
efforts for achieving high-quality development. Thanks to continuous efforts, the country has made great achievements
in reducing the intensity of industrial emissions and enhancing energy
efficiency over the past 10 years. But some of that progress had been
canceled out by a marked rise in consumption-related emissions as that
sector expands, he said. He said vehicle emissions in Beijing, for example, are now
responsible for almost one-third of the PM2.5-tiny particulate matter
that is hazardous to health-in the capital's air. The country is also
confronted with a grim situation in the disposal of growing piles of
construction waste and trash from the booming express delivery industry. "The goal of fundamentally improving the quality of the environment
and building a beautiful China cannot be realized without
transformations in both the production and life-related consumption
sectors," Ren said. Wang said China has yet to make major, overall breakthroughs in green
technologies despite some progress in a few areas. In addition to
ratcheting up technology research and development, he said, wide-ranging
green transformation will depend on a series of supporting policies,
especially green financing. "The investment for many green development projects usually pays off
in the very long run. The current financing mechanisms need to be
reformed to be more investment-friendly for such green projects," he
said. Wang also noted another challenge to the green transformation-motivating people to pay more for green products. In addition to having sufficient income, which offers the economic
foundation, and clear green accreditation criteria for products, people
need to develop a strong environmental awareness in order to prefer to
buy green products. "The cultivation of green consumption awareness is a long-term,
time-consuming progress, which may need the consistent efforts of one
generation or even two," he said. Erik Solheim, vice-chairman of the China Council for International
Cooperation on Environment and Development and former executive director
of the UN Environment Programme, said China's green development vision
is important for China and the world. "I think this is a most exciting turning point in human history," he
said. "Because what happened in the past was first you pollute and then
after years you clean up. Now we are in a complete new situation where
there is a belief that we can promote economic development goals and
create jobs while at the same time taking care of the environment." He said China will set an example for developing countries that are
looking to the world's second-largest economy for inspiration on how to
eradicate poverty. And it can show they can do it without having to harm
the environment.
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