Focus Interview: Promoting Green Development and Consolidating Global Consensus Civilization | China | Global
CCTV News: From July 7th to 9th, the 2023 Guiyang International Forum on Ecological Civilization was successfully held in a combination of online and offline methods. This forum is the only national level international forum in China with ecological civilization as its theme. Since its establishment in 2009, it has successfully held 11 sessions, becoming an important platform for promoting international exchange and cooperation in ecological civilization construction and an important window for the world to understand China's ecological civilization construction. The theme of this forum is "Co conspiring for harmonious coexistence and modernization between humans and nature - promoting green and low-carbon development". 14 consensus points have been reached in four aspects, multiple research results have been released, and multiple collaborations related to green development have been facilitated.
The theme of this forum is "Co conspiring for harmonious coexistence and modernization between humans and nature - promoting green and low-carbon development".More than 3200 guests from 42 countries and regions around the world gathered together to spread the concept of ecological civilization and gather a global consensus on green development.
Su Yang, a researcher at the Development Research Center of the State Council, said, "The title of Chapter 10 of the 20th National Congress Report is' Promoting Green Development, Promoting Harmonious Coexistence between Human and Nature ', which integrates development and protection. This is a brand new concept, and there should be an opportunity for exchange in various aspects of this concept. Therefore, the first function of this year's forum is to gather consensus, and the second function is to engage in confrontation and collision, so that everyone can have clearer ideas in specific work."
The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that it is necessary to firmly establish and practice the concept of "green mountains and clear waters are invaluable assets", and plan development from the perspective of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature. Following this concept, in recent years, China has been vigorously promoting ecological protection work, and many places have also explored effective practices that are in line with the actual situation in practice.
Chishui City, Guizhou is located along the Chishui River, a tributary of the Yangtze River, and is currently the area with the highest forest coverage in Guizhou Province. However, many years ago, due to excessive development, local forest resources were continuously destroyed, and the forest coverage rate of the main section of the Chishui River was only about 21%. Ecological degradation has led to frequent droughts and floods in the local area, resulting in severe soil erosion.
The harsh ecology not only poses safety hazards to people's lives, but also seriously hinders local economic development. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, with the support of national policies, the local government has increased efforts to promote afforestation projects and selected bamboo, which is suitable for the local climate and grows rapidly, as the main planting variety. The large-scale cultivation of bamboo forests has built a green ecological barrier in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, greatly improving the local ecological environment and opening up a path for local people to become rich led by the bamboo industry.
Wan Peng, a villager from Tianqiao Village, Datong Town, Chishui City, Guizhou Province, said, "Every year when it's time to chop bamboo, you can go and chop it. When the bamboo is chopped and transported to the roadside, it's money. At least 20 bundles of bamboo can be chopped in a day, and it costs over 400 yuan."
20 years ago, villager Wan Peng responded to the policy by planting bamboo on his abandoned farmland. Nowadays, the bamboo on seventeen or eighteen acres of land at home can bring in an annual income of 20000 yuan. The bamboo harvested by villagers will be sent to a paper mill several kilometers away, and through strict environmental protection processes, it will be decomposed into bamboo pulp and "black liquid" containing wooden elements. Bamboo pulp is used to make raw paper, and the black liquid is concentrated and used as fuel, with almost no waste.
Ecological papermaking is just one of the many bamboo processing industries in Chishui City. There are nearly 300 bamboo processing enterprises in Chishui City, forming more than 300 varieties in six major series, including bamboo building materials, bamboo decoration, bamboo handicrafts, and bamboo shoot processing. In 2022, the city's bamboo industry output value reached 7.46 billion yuan.
Nowadays, the bamboo forest area in Chishui City has reached 1.32 million acres, providing abundant raw materials for the bamboo processing industry. In October 2022, Chishui City issued Guizhou's first bamboo forest carbon ticket for carbon sink trading, taking the first step of exchanging air for money. In the future, as China continues to move towards the "dual carbon" goal, carbon sequestration trading will also demonstrate increasingly greater value to green mountains and clear waters.
Ecological protection work needs to strictly adhere to the bottom line, vigorously promote, and also implement targeted and precise policies according to local conditions. The measures taken by China to promote ecological protection from a development perspective in this forum have also attracted a lot of attention.
In 2019, the Ministry of Natural Resources, together with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, comprehensively carried out the assessment and delineation of ecological protection red lines in conjunction with the formulation of national spatial planning, identifying and protecting areas with extremely important ecological functions and fragile ecology. In 2022, China fully completed the delineation of the ecological protection red line, clarifying the lifeline of national ecological security. In this process, it is crucial to scientifically and accurately carry out relevant work and safeguard the vital interests of the people.
There is a "Cloud Mountain City" with an altitude of over 1000 meters above Mount Lu in Jiangxi Province, called Guling Town. This town formed an administrative town more than 100 years ago. As it is located in Mount Lushan Scenic Zone, Guling Town was initially included in the ecological protection red line.
You Tugui, Secretary of the Party Group and Director of the Natural Resources Bureau of Lushan City, Jiangxi Province, said, "About 20000 residents reside here year-round. With more and more tourists coming to Lushan, the public service facilities within the red line are unable to meet the needs of tourists. The reality is that they can no longer meet the needs of local social life and economic development in the future."
According to the management regulations for ecological protection red line areas, within the ecological protection red line, human activities are generally prohibited in the core protected areas of nature reserves, while development and production construction activities are strictly prohibited in other areas. However, due to historical reasons, tens of thousands of residents have already lived in Guling Town. If all residents were to be relocated, it would not be in line with the actual local living and production situation, nor would it meet the functional positioning requirements of national tourist scenic spots.
To solve this problem, relevant departments have conducted multiple research and argumentation, and in this ecological protection red line assessment adjustment and natural protection land integration optimization, 50.49 hectares of built-up areas in Guling Town and 103.47 hectares of contiguous villages around the town have been adjusted as ecological protection red lines for densely populated areas.
Luo Zhimin, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Natural Resources Bureau of Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province, said, "This kind of adjustment further reflects the rationality of the policy. We do not avoid contradictions, and based on the needs and development requirements of the people, we clarify the spatial relationship between ecological protection and human activities, and implement precise policies. The adjustment does not mean to relax management. We will promote the high-quality development of urban construction and tourism in Guling Town, Lushan through stricter land spatial planning and use control, while ensuring that ecological protection requirements are met, and promote harmonious coexistence between humans and nature."
After adjusting the ecological protection red line, many public service facilities urgently needed by the residents of Guling Town were constructed, and livelihood renovation projects were also implemented. In the Dalingou community of Guling Town, 12 old residential buildings have just completed the renovation of the old community, and the residents of the community are very satisfied. While improving people's livelihoods and balancing development, the local government has also strengthened ecological supervision in these areas, strictly reporting and approving construction projects in accordance with relevant regulations to ensure that the ecological environment is not damaged due to adjusting the ecological protection red line.
To achieve green and low-carbon development and find a harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, we must also keep up with the pace of the times, rely on the power of technology, lead and promote the energy revolution, and accelerate the promotion and popularization of clean energy. This is also one of the hot topics of this forum.
The Zhongyuan Oilfield in Puyang, Henan Province is an important oil and gas production base in central China. In 2017, the Central Plains Oilfield Petrochemical Plant was shut down after three consecutive years of losses due to its small scale, low efficiency, and high pressure on safety and environmental protection. How should we take the road to the future? The long-term strategy is to achieve transformation and upgrading, and open up new tracks that conform to advanced ecological and environmental protection concepts.
Wei Zhongxin, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Oil and Gas Processing Technology Service Center of Zhongyuan Oilfield, said, "After the shutdown, we discussed many solutions. We are a large oil and gas field with a yield of millions of tons. How can we make good use of our own advantages, use our flagship products, achieve diversified transformation, and make the factory come to life? So we thought of the group company's proposal to develop the green hydrogen industry with new energy."
Wind and photovoltaic power generation have the characteristics of strong volatility and difficulty in storage, and the green hydrogen industry is to convert these clean energy sources into hydrogen energy for storage. Puyang has abundant wind and solar energy resources, and Zhongyuan Oilfield Petrochemical Plant has technological advantages. After reaching a consensus, everyone twisted into a rope and made up their mind to pave a new and vibrant development path for the factory.
By utilizing these green hydrogen energy sources, Puyang City has put into operation 25 hydrogen fuel cell sanitation vehicles and 20 hydrogen fuel cell buses, which can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 3700 tons annually. At present, the green hydrogen industry is still in its early stages of development, and there is still broad development space in the future. The new Zhongyuan Oilfield Green Hydrogen Demonstration Base is also under large-scale construction, with an expected annual production capacity of 4500 tons by 2025, becoming the "Green Hydrogen" supply center in the northern Henan region. Puyang is also accelerating its green transformation from Zhongyuan Oil City to Zhongyuan Hydrogen City.
Like Puyang, Henan, many cities in China are vigorously promoting the layout and development of clean energy with the support of national policies, and promoting low-carbon transformation in industries such as construction and transportation. This will also help China achieve the "dual carbon" goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality as soon as possible.
He Kebin, an academician of the CAE Member and president of the Institute of Carbon Neutralization of Tsinghua University, said, "To achieve carbon neutrality in China, we need to solve the problem of nearly 10 billion tons of carbon dioxide, and the energy structure may bear the largest proportion here. We are now considering the overall national layout of" building first and then breaking down ", which means accelerating the establishment of new energy or renewable energy, and under this premise, gradually reducing the proportion of fossil energy in the past."
The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that we should promote the construction of a beautiful China, adhere to the integrated protection and systematic governance of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grasslands, and sands, coordinate industrial structure adjustment, pollution control, ecological protection, and climate change response, coordinate the promotion of carbon reduction, pollution reduction, green expansion, and growth, and promote ecological priority, conservation, intensification, and green and low-carbon development. Seeking development through green and low-carbon methods is not only a way for harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, but also an inevitable trend for human economic and social development. We adhere to the concept that green mountains and clear waters are as valuable as gold and silver. While building a more sound ecological civilization system, we are taking more solid steps towards green and low-carbon development, and will also provide the world with a sustainable development plan from China.
