Fully Implementing All Key Reform Tasks in Ecological Conservation

Based on the overall objective of furthering comprehensive reform, the 20th CPC Central Committee set out at its third plenary session specific plans for advancing reform in ecological conservation with a focus on building a Beautiful China. These plans include improvements to the basic systems for ecological conservation, environmental governance, and mechanisms for green and low-carbon development.

Establishing a responsibility system for the BCI

To carry out the Beautiful China Initiative (BCI), we must uphold and strengthen the CPC's overall leadership and refine the working mechanism under which the central authorities coordinate overall planning, provincial-level authorities assume overall responsibility, and prefecture- and county-level authorities ensure implementation. Central environmental protection inspections will be further advanced. To ensure they continue to serve as a powerful tool, we will formulate regulations on environmental protection inspection and improve the long-term mechanism for routine inspections, in order to reinforce political responsibility for the BCI. A sound evaluation system with rational criteria will be established to assess the progress in the BCI. We will push forward with the development of Beautiful China pilot zones in a bid to boost practical and institutional innovations that are replicable and scalable. Action plans will be researched and formulated for specific areas, such as the development of beautiful cities and villages, and solid progress will be made in improving our rivers, lakes, and bays. Through these efforts, we will make faster headway in creating implementation frameworks and mechanisms for the BCI. 

Improving the basic systems for ecological conservation

We will implement region-specific environmental management systems featuring category-based, targeted regulation along with environmental access lists in order to prevent environmental problems at source. To quickly establish a modern environmental monitoring system, we will beef up our environmental monitoring and assessment institutions, improve the integrated network covering the skies, space, land, and sea, and promote a shift to digital and intelligent monitoring technologies. We will create an environmental protection responsibility system for local Party and government leaders that achieves comprehensive coverage and seamless interconnection, ensures alignment of powers and responsibilities, and provides for clear rewards and punishments. We will improve the coordination mechanism for ensuring national ecological security, enhancing our capacity for research, assessment, monitoring, early warning, and emergency response in this regard. We will also push ahead with codifying environmental laws and coordinate the formulation and revision of laws, regulations, and standards in areas such as environmental protection and climate change response. 

Modernizing the environmental governance system

We will develop the responsibility, oversight, and market systems as well as the laws, regulations, and policies for environmental governance. We will refine the institutions and mechanisms for conducting targeted, well-conceived, and law-based pollution control, and institute higher standards in the drive to keep our skies blue, waters clear, and lands clean. All this will enable us to make the leap from quantitative to qualitative environmental improvements. We will implement an oversight system for stationary pollution sources centered on emissions permits and promote comprehensive, coordinated, and full-lifecycle management of these sources through a single-permit system for all emissions. We will introduce systems for the coordinated treatment of new pollutants and management of environmental risks and enact regulations on managing environmental risks from toxic and hazardous chemicals. We will take a coordinated approach to reducing the discharge of various pollutants by conducting prevention and control at the source, process-integrated management, and end-of-pipe treatment. With a stronger focus on entire ecosystems and river basins, we will promote comprehensive protection, systematic restoration, and integrated management of major river basins, including the Yangtze and Yellow rivers. The reform to advance the law-based disclosure of environmental information will continue in order to improve the overall quality of disclosed information and ensure that it is put to better use. We will establish an environmental credibility oversight system along with a mechanism for restoring credibility. Credibility oversight will be carried out in a multi-tiered and categorized way. We will comprehensively enhance our regulatory capacity for nuclear safety by putting in place a modern regulatory system commensurate with China’s nuclear development. We will promote compensation for environmental damage through coordinated steps and improve the environmental health risk assessment system. We will improve the dynamic adjustment mechanism for the environmental law enforcement whitelist to keep enhancing the effectiveness of environmental oversight and enforcement.

Improving regulation of ecosystem protection and restoration efforts

Fully leveraging the functions and roles of ecology and environment departments, we will bolster overall coordination and administrative oversight and enhance unified external oversight over the owners, developers, and regulators of natural resources, while also regulating and constraining various behaviors relating to natural resource development and utilization. We will comprehensively push forward with ecological status assessments and evaluations of conservation and restoration outcomes, advance the Green Shield Initiative to strengthen supervision over important ecological spaces, and establish a mechanism for investigating and dealing with damage in important ecological spaces not under the protection of conservation redlines. The coordination mechanism for biodiversity protection will be enhanced, large-scale biodiversity protection projects will be carried out, and improvements will be made to the environmental safety assessment and regulatory system for biotechnology. We will explore new avenues for transforming natural resources into economic wealth, refining the mechanisms for realizing the market value of ecosystem goods and services and compensating ecological protection, so as to ensure that those who participate in and contribute to environmental protection truly benefit from their efforts.

Improving mechanisms for green and low-carbon development

We will actively yet prudently move toward reaching peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality and gradually transition from controlling the total amount and intensity of energy consumption to controlling the total amount and intensity of carbon emissions. A “1+N” policy framework for promoting new quality productive forces in the area of ecological conservation will be put in place to promote collaborative innovation toward reducing pollution and carbon emissions across multiple fields and levels and cultivate eco-friendly industries. We will implement environmental economic policies and standards to support green and low-carbon development, vigorously advance green finance, and refine the green taxation system, including the environmental protection tax. We will deepen reform of science and technology systems in the area of ecological conservation to build our self-reliance and strength in green and low-carbon science and technology. Improvements will be made to the system for market-based allocation of resources and environmental factors, and the cap-and-trade system for emissions will be advanced. We will further develop the national carbon market, expand the national carbon emissions trading market to cover more sectors, and improve the national voluntary greenhouse gas emissions reduction market. We will put in place a more granular carbon emissions statistics and accounting system with better traceability, move faster in building a carbon footprint management system, and improve the systems and mechanisms for greenhouse gas inventory compilation. We will boost the climate adaptation system to ensure the alignment of powers and responsibilities, promote greater coordination and efficiency, and improve the pilot programs for developing climate-adaptive cities. China will actively participate in formulating international rules on climate change and related fields and keep working to improve its influence and say in global environmental governance. 

Improving the implementation mechanisms for reform tasks

We will set the tasks, timelines, and priorities for environmental reforms in a well-conceived way, clearly defining specific reform measures and the entities responsible for their implementation. We will improve the mechanisms for coordination and supervision to ensure pragmatic, resolute, and effective steps are taken to transform our reform blueprint into reality. 

Editor: Li Xiaoqiong