GREEN GROWTH AND GREEN LIVING – REVOLUTION IN DEVELOPMENT THINKING

GREEN GROWTH AND GREEN LIVING – REVOLUTION IN DEVELOPMENT THINKING*

May 26, 2017

Today, we gather here for the 41st group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. The theme of this session is promoting green growth and green living, which bears on overall economic and social development and is of great concern to all sectors of society. Now, I would like to share some of my thoughts.

I. Promoting green growth and green living is essential to our new development philosophy.

Human development must respect, protect, and keep in harmony with nature; otherwise, nature will take its revenge. This is a law that everyone should observe. Humanity relies on nature, and the relationship between the two is one of symbiosis. Harm to nature will eventually hurt humanity. Only by following the laws of nature can we avoid going astray in our exploitation and utilization of nature.

To promote green growth and green living, we should follow the basic state policy of resource conservation and environmental protection, giving priority to conservation and protection and letting nature restore itself. We must develop a resource-saving and eco-friendly spatial configuration planning system, industrial structure, production model, and way of life. We should strive to create a good environment for our people to work and live in.

Since the introduction of reform and opening up in 1978, our achievements in social and economic development, of which we are rightly proud, have been historic. At the same time, however, many eco-environmental problems have arisen. These problems have become prominent and have become pressing concerns to the public. We must redouble our efforts to address them. 

If the economy was developed at the expense of the ecosystems and the environment, people would live in smog all day long, without safe food, clean water, fresh air, or a livable environment. This is not what the people expect from moderate prosperity and a modern society. Therefore, we must give top priority to eco-environmental progress in our overall plan, and strive for coordinated progress in the economy, society, and environmental protection.

Promoting green growth and green living represents a profound revolution in people’s attitude to development. This requires us to adopt and implement the new development philosophy, and strike a proper balance between economic growth and environmental protection. We should protect our ecosystems as preciously as we protect our eyes, and cherish it as dearly as we cherish our lives. We must be resolute in casting aside the growth model that harms or even destroys the environment, and in abandoning the practice of development at the expense of the environment for temporary economic growth in certain localities. The protection and improvement of our ecosystem will help improve quality of life, promote sound and sustained social and economic development, and present an image of an environmentally friendly China. We should strive to build a beautiful China where skies are blue, mountains green, and waters lucid. 

II. Promoting green growth and green living remains a demanding task.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, promoting eco-environmental progress has been an important component of the Five-sphere Integrated Plan and the Four-pronged Comprehensive Strategy. Our effort to promote a model of green growth and green living has been integrated into economic, political, cultural and social development and the whole process of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. We have followed a path of sound development that ensures growth, better lives, and a good environment, thus opening up new prospects for environmental protection.

Over the years, we have made remarkable progress in promoting green development. In 2016, carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP declined by 26.9 percent over 2011, and energy consumption per unit of GDP by 20.9 percent. The proportion of days with good or excellent air quality in 74 cities was 13.7 percentage points higher than in 2013, and the average concentration of PM2.5 in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region fell by 33.3 percent. The proportion of state-controlled surface water of Grade V (inferior water quality) was 7.9 percentage points lower than in 2010, and that at or above Grade III (good water quality), 16.4 percentage points higher. The area of land used for construction per unit of GDP dropped by more than 24 percent over 2011, and the amount of water consumed, by more than 30 percent. Total chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonia nitrogen emissions fell by more than 13 percent. Forest coverage rose from 16.6 percent at the beginning of this century to around 22 percent.

We have taken an active part in global environmental governance. China was the first country to release a national plan on implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to deposit its instrument of ratification of the Paris Agreement with the UN. At the second session of the UN Environment Assembly in 2016, the UN Environment Programme issued a report entitled “Green is gold: The strategy and actions of China’s ecological civilization”. As people have said, the years since the 18th National Congress of our Party have seen the biggest efforts, the most concrete measures, the fastest progress and the best results in our effort to build an eco-civilization. This must be fully affirmed.

At the same time, we must be aware that on the whole we face serious eco-environmental problems — ever-tighter resource constraints, heavy pollution, and serious environmental degradation. In particular, damage to our ecosystems still occurs frequently in some places, despite repeated prohibition measures.

Environmental degradation is still a serious issue. Areas experiencing soil erosion account for 31 percent of our total land area, and desertification affects 30 percent. Degraded farmland makes up over 40 percent of the total farmland. The amount of lost soil amounts to 5 billion tonnes per year, and the loss of soil nutrients is equivalent to 40 million tonnes of standard fertilizer. Due to soil erosion, more than 20 million hectares of arable land has seen declining productivity. Ninety percent of available natural grasslands are degraded to varying degrees, and nearly 50 percent are moderately degraded or worse. Since the 1950s, more than one third of the 696 lakes with an area larger than 10 square kilometers have suffered serious shrinkage, and the area of natural terrestrial wetlands has dropped by 28 percent. A large number of natural shorelines and tidal flats have been occupied, and no more than 40 percent of natural shorelines have been preserved.

From the perspective of resources, utilization remains inefficient. Energy consumption per unit of GDP is more than twice the world average, water resource productivity is only 62 percent of the world average, and water consumption per RMB10,000 of industrial added value is twice the advanced world level. Per capita urban land used for industry and mining is 149 square meters, and per capita rural land used for construction is 317 square meters, both far beyond the national upper limits. Water-saving irrigation areas account for less than half of the total effective irrigation areas, and the effective utilization coefficient of irrigation water is far lower than 0.7 to 0.8, the world’s advanced level.

Water resources are over-exploited. The utilization rate of water resources in the Haihe River Basin has reached 106 percent, that in the Yellow River Basin, 82 percent, and that in the Liaohe River Basin, 76 percent. The average utilization rate of groundwater in the northern plain area has reached 85 percent, and the rate even exceeds 100 percent in Hebei, Tianjin, Henan and Shanxi. Groundwater over-exploitation is serious, covering an area of 300,000 square kilometers. Every year 17 billion cubic meters of groundwater are over-exploited, resulting in serious eco-environmental problems such as land subsidence, ground collapse, seawater intrusion, land desertification, and lower discharge from springs. The North China Plain has become a huge cone of depression.

In terms of the environment, pollution remains heavy. Total discharge of major pollutants around the country is far beyond the environmental carrying capacity. Regional smog and water pollution in river basins remain a familiar sight. Every year, more than 9 million tonnes of major COD pollutants flow into rivers, and pollutant inflows exceed the capacities of water functional zones in 32 percent of rivers and 11 percent of lakes. Of the rivers and lakes monitored and evaluated nationwide, 23 percent of the rivers by length and 55 percent of the lakes by area fall below Grade III water quality. Only 70 percent of the water function zones in major rivers meet the water quality standards, and 6.4 percent of surface water and 15 percent of groundwater do not meet the standards for sources of drinking water. Black and fetid water bodies in cities are a serious problem.

In agriculture, pollution from non-point sources is still high. According to the first national survey of pollution sources, COD, total nitrogen emissions, and total phosphorus discharge from agricultural sources accounted for 43.7 percent, 57.2 percent and 67.3 percent respectively of the national total. Agricultural pollution from non-point sources has become one of the main causes of water pollution. The main sources are widely used chemical fertilizers and pesticides and the large amount of manure produced in livestock and poultry breeding. The amount of fertilizers used in China accounts for about one third of the world total, higher than our share of cultivated land in the world; but the overall utilization rate of chemical fertilizers and pesticides is only 30 percent, much lower than that of developed countries. Residual chemical fertilizers and pesticides enter water bodies through precipitation, surface runoff and soil filtration, leading to deterioration in soil and water quality.

In terms of consumption, waste is alarming. In food alone, there is a lot of waste in production, distribution, processing and consumption. Waste on the dinner table is especially shocking. As estimated in a survey, every year more than RMB200 billion worth of food is wasted on the dinner table, equivalent to the annual needs of more than 200 million people. Packaging waste is also serious. Some high-end goods, even ordinary goods, have many layers of wrapping. Excessive packaging is a serious waste of resources and gives rise to an unhealthy consumer mentality.

These alarming figures reflect the current situation of our eco-environment.

I list in detail all the problems in eco-environmental protection to show you that promoting green growth and green living is a long-term, complex and demanding challenge. I hope you will give it full attention and make solid efforts to promote eco-environmental progress. Failure to pay due attention, contribute due effort, or take decisive and effective action against these issues will only serve to exacerbate the problem, and our development will never be sustainable.

That is why I take eco-environmental protection so seriously. Since our Party’s 18th National Congress, I have given instructions on some cases which caused severe damage to the environment, and demanded investigations and sanctions. The cases include: 

• the building of a new city by destroying mountains in Yan’an, Shaanxi;
• the illegal construction near the Qiandao Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang;
• the illegal construction of villas at the Xi’an section of the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi;
• the illegal reductions in the area of the Kalamayli Nature Reserve in Xinjiang;
• the pollution in Tengger Desert in Inner Mongolia;
• the destructive mining activities in Qilian Mountain Nature Reserve and Muli Coalfield in Qinghai;
• the environmental damage to the Qilian Mountains in Gansu.

The reason why I keep track of these problems is that if we relax our effort and let these problems arise and recur, it will be very difficult for us to turn the tide on environmental deterioration. That is irresponsible to our nation and future generations.

III. Laying extra emphasis on promoting green growth and green living.

We must be aware that it is an important and pressing but difficult task to achieve green growth and adopt green living. We must move faster to make a rational, appropriate and well-designed plan for territorial space, an industrial system for green, circular and low-carbon development, a complete support system for eco-environmental progress which attaches equal importance to incentives and restraints, and an environmental governance system jointly implemented by the government, enterprises and the public. We will speed up our work on drawing three red lines for protecting our ecosystems, covering ecological function security, basic eco-environmental quality standards, and natural resource utilization. We will step up environmental protection in all respects, in all places, and in all the processes of production, distribution and consumption.

To complete this task, I want to make the following six proposals:

First, move faster to transform the economic growth model.

To fundamentally improve our ecosystems, we must abandon the model based on an increase in material resource consumption, extensive development, high energy consumption, and high emissions. This is an important part of supply-side structural reform. Over the years, China has established an industrial structure involving high energy consumption and high carbon emissions, with energy-intensive industries, especially heavy chemicals, taking a bigger share. Industrial energy use accounts for 70 percent of the national total, of which five energy-consuming industries — steel, building materials, petrochemicals, non-ferrous metals, and chemicals — make up nearly 50 percent.

The situation will not be changed overnight. But we must step up our efforts and work faster. As I said before, to adjust the industrial structure we should cut overcapacity, and at the same time develop advanced manufacturing, new and high-tech industries, and modern services, all low in energy consumption. We must remain firm in both areas. We should stay determined to shift the focus of development to higher quality and efficiency. We should rely on a more innovation-driven development which is oriented towards the future and gives full play to first-mover advantage.

Second, intensify the comprehensive control of environmental pollution.

We must resolve air, water and soil pollution problems that are of major concern to the public on a priority basis, and redouble our efforts to prevent and control environmental pollution. 

We will continue our campaign to prevent and control air pollution. We will reinforce our concerted effort to prevent and control air pollution in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region and its surrounding area, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Pearl River Delta. We will gradually reduce and bring an end to severe air pollution, and bring back blue skies.

We will strengthen water pollution prevention and control. We will strictly control heavy chemical and other projects along the main streams of the seven major river basins, and remedy black and fetid water bodies in cities. The river chief system will be rolled out nationwide to ensure supervision over the whole process, from water sources to faucets. In developing the Yangtze River Economic Belt, we will promote well-coordinated environmental conservation and avoid excessive development, giving priority to environmental protection and green development.

We will conduct soil pollution control and soil restoration projects. We will concentrate efforts on resolving soil contamination to ensure the safety of agricultural products and a sound living environment.

We will reinforce prevention and control of non-point source pollution in agriculture. We will strive for zero growth in the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, increase the recycling rate of agricultural plastic sheeting, and accelerate the full utilization of crop straw and livestock and poultry waste.

We will develop green and clean production, effectively control pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and support more developed regions to achieve peak carbon emissions first.

We will intensify comprehensive environmental governance in urban and rural areas to build beautiful cities and villages.

Third, accelerate environmental protection and restoration.

We must prioritize environmental protection and let nature restore itself. We will carry out an integrated program of protection and restoration for mountains, waters, forests and farmlands. Priority will be given to restoration projects in areas with a critical impact on national eco-environmental security, including the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Loess Plateau, the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, the Qinling-Daba Mountains, the Qilian Mountains, the Greater and Lesser Hinggan Mountains, the Changbai Mountains, the Nanling Mountains, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei water conservation area, the Inner Mongolian Plateau, the Hexi Corridor, the Tarim River Basin, and the karst area in the Yunnan-Guangxi-Guizhou region. These projects will help us to build a strong national shield for eco-environmental security.

We will carry out large-scale greening programs. We will launch major projects to protect natural forests, build shelterbelts, control the sources of sandstorms that affect Beijing and Tianjin, turn more marginal farmland into forests and grasslands, and protect and restore wetlands. We will launch projects to make urban areas greener and step up comprehensive control of soil erosion, desertification, and stony desertification.

Fourth, promote all-round resource conservation and efficient resource utilization.

Environmental problems, in the final analysis, are caused by over-exploitation, inefficient utilization, and wasteful consumption of resources. We exploit and utilize natural resources to guarantee a happy life for the people, but at the same time we should leave to our future generations sufficient resources for their needs. 

To achieve this goal, we must change the way resources are utilized and improve the efficiency of using resources. We should promote efficient, economical use and recycling of resources. We will implement the strictest system for the protection of arable land and the management of water resources, and tighten control not only over the total amount of energy, water and land for construction being used, but also over their consumption to GDP ratio. We should focus more on increasing efficiency of resource utilization, which is a systematic project, reducing damage to the environment in the process of resource development and utilization, and improving recycling and utilization of resources. We will strive to obtain maximum social and economic benefits with minimal detriment to resources and the environment. 

We will promote low-carbon and circular development in key fields. We will tighten control of energy consumption in energy-intensive industries, improve energy conservation in buildings and transport, develop water-saving industries, and promote centralized processing and utilization of various wastes and garbage.

Fifth, advocate and popularize green consumption. 

Building an eco-civilization is a matter for everyone. Each of us should advocate and contribute to this undertaking. We should raise environmental consciousness among the people. We will continue to advocate thrift and low-carbon consumption, popularize eco-friendly furniture and building materials and products that save energy and water, promote green travel, and encourage consumers to buy energy-saving, eco-friendly and recycled products. We should encourage people to develop a green way of life and a healthy consumption model characterized by economy, restraint, and low carbon.

We should strengthen publicity and education on the need to promote eco-environmental progress. We will instill respect for, and protection of, our ecosystems, resources and environment in our national education and training system as well as in activities for raising the people’s cultural-ethical standards, so as to raise public awareness of our eco-civilization and foster a social trend in favor of eco-conservation.

Sixth, refine the overall mechanism for eco-environmental progress with complete supporting systems.

To promote green development and guarantee eco-environmental progress, it is imperative to have the strictest possible systems and legislation in place. We will speed up price reform of natural resources and their products and improve the system of paid use of resources. We will improve the management system for natural resource assets, strengthen regulation on natural resources and the environment, implement environmental inspections and an eco-compensation system, and refine the system of public participation in the protection of the environment. The legal system will be improved to ensure eco-environmental progress is achieved with law-based thinking and approaches.

Our experience has shown that officials have a key role to play in implementing eco-conservation programs. The reasons for some major environmental incidents are: leading officials which lack a sense of responsibility or the will to act, local governments which fail to perform their duties or enforce relevant regulations due to a lack of environmental awareness, and environmental protection departments which fail to fully play their role in law enforcement and supervision or to leverage the mandatory force of laws and regulations.

We must implement an eco-conservation responsibility system for officials during their tenure of office and an audit of natural resource assets when they leave their posts. We will follow the principles of abiding by laws and regulations, objectivity and fairness, rational conclusions, balance between power and responsibility, and lifelong accountability. We must clearly identify the responsibilities in decision-making, enforcement and monitoring for which officials at different levels are to be held accountable.

Any official responsible for damage to the environment must be held accountable even if they have retired or been transferred or promoted. All Party committees and governments must attach great importance to this and provide stronger leadership. Discipline inspection and supervision departments and organization departments, together with the government’s regulatory authorities, must assume their responsibilities and join efforts to form a synergy. Once the need for accountability arises, we must carry the work to the end. Never shall the systems and regulations become a “toothless tiger”.

* Speech at the 41st group study session of the Political Bureau of the 18th CPC Central Committee.

(Not to be republished for any commercial or other purposes.)