The First National Ecology Day | National Development and Reform Commission Releases Three-Year Achievements in Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality Goals

Introduction 

 Hangzhou, Aug. 15 (Xinhua)--On the occasion of the first National Ecology Day, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, Chairman of the Central Military Commission, Chinese President Xi Jinping, has stressed that guided by “Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality” goal, work to gradually transition from dual control system of total energy consumption and energy intensity to dual control system of carbon emissions, promoting green and low-carbon transformations in production and lifestyle.

Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) central committees and Vice Premier of the State Council, Ding Xuexiang, attended the opening ceremony of the event, conveying important remarks of China President Xi Jinping and delivering a speech. Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang made the remarks on upholding green and low-carbon development as the fundamental solution to environmental challenges. He stressed the active and steady promotion of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, achieving carbon reduction while pursuing higher-quality development, and achieving higher-quality development in progress of carbon reduction.

01

The National Development and Reform Commission released the three-year achievements of “Carbon Peak and Carbon neutrality”

The first National Ecology Day event took place on the 15th in Huzhou city, Zhejiang Province, with the theme “Green Mountain and Clear water are Equal to Gold and Silver”. Member of the Leading Party Group and Deputy Director of the National Development and Reform Commission, Zhao Chenxin, released the key achievements of the three-year declaration on carbon peak and carbon neutrality during the ecological civilization event.

Over the past three years, China has built a comprehensive “1+N” policy framework for carbon peak and carbon neutrality. The green and low-carbon transformation of energy has made steady progress, with over 520 million kilowatts of coal-fired power units completed for energy-saving and carbon reduction, flexibility enhancement, and heating system renovation. Renewable energy capacity has exceeded 1.3 billion kilowatts, surpassing coal-fired power historically. The “new three items” represented by solar cells, lithium batteries, and electric passenger vehicles, have become new drivers of international trade growth. In the first half of this year, the total exports of these products increased by 61.6%, contributing to an overall 1.8% export growth.

In key areas, the proportion of new green building construction has increased from 77% at the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan to the current 91.2%. Energy-efficient buildings account for over 65% of urban civilian building areas. Last year, the national railway freight volume reached 4.984 billion tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.4%, and waterway freight volume reached 8.554 billion tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.8%. In the first half of this year, the production and sales of new energy vehicles reached 3.788 million and 3.747 million vehicles, respectively, both with year-on-year growth rates of over 40%. The total number of new energy vehicles in China now exceeds 16.2 million, accounting for over half of the global total.

In the optimization of fiscal resource allocation, tax incentives and policies supporting green and low-carbon development have been implemented. Since 2020, the central government has allocated a total of 1.78 trillion yuan for ecological and environmental protection. Support tools for carbon reduction and special refinancing for clean and efficient use of coal have been introduced. As of June, this year, the balances of these two tools were 453 billion yuan and 245.9 billion yuan, respectively. The National Green Development Fund was established with an initial fund raising of 88.5 billion yuan. Energy price reforms have been deepened by promoting the market-oriented reform of on-grid electricity prices for coal-fired power generation, implementing policy of equal pricing for new energy, improving time-of-use electricity pricing mechanisms and enhancing the pricing policies for pumped storage hydropower. A robust green energy trading system has been improved, with green energy trading volumes exceeding 600 billion kilowatt-hours.

The strategic layout of key regions have been optimized , ecological protection redlines have been delineated successfully , The protection and restoration of vital regional ecosystems have been reinforced, special attention has been given to addressing prominent environmental issues in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the Yellow River Basin, and promoting ecological conservation in high-quality development areas like the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area. A massive land greening campaign has been conducted, since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan, China has succeeded in greening more than 100 million mu (about 6.67 million hectares) of land. The forest coverage has reached 24.02%, the total forest stock has reached 19.493 billion cubic meters, making China the fastest-growing country in forest resources globally.

02

Ministry of Natural Resources has published the first Ecological Protection Blue Book

According to the information from the Ministry of Natural Resources of the PRC, on the first National Ecology Day event held on the 15th that the “China Ecological Protection Redline Blue Book (2023)” (referred to as the “Blue Book” below) organized and prepared by China Land Surveying and Planning Institute released. This marks the first-ever Ecological Protection Redline Blue Book in China, providing a systematic summary of the process, methods, achievements, and practical cases related to the comprehensive delineation of ecological protection redlines. It also puts forth ideas and recommendations for strengthening supervision and improving systems on ecological protection redline.

The ecological protection redline is considered as a significant achievement and a major institutional innovation in the development of ecological civilization. The Ministry of Natural Resources, in conjunction with the preparation of the “National Land Space Planning Outline (2021-2035)” worked with other authorities such as the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the National Forestry and Grassland Administration to comprehensively delineate the national ecological protection redline, achieving strict control over essential ecological spaces. This endeavor is aimed at providing a Chinese solution for global ecological protection and governance. It emphasizes that green mountains and clear water are not only natural resources and ecological wealth but also social, economic, and cultural wealth. The initiative of ecological protection redline is to achieve high-quality development, make the healthy ecological environment a positive contribution to people's lives, serve as a pillar for the sustained healthy development of the economy and society, and act as a driving force for presenting China's positive image to the world.

The ecological protection redline area in this plan covers a total area of approximately 3.19 million square kilometers, with approximately 3.04 million square kilometers designated for land-based ecological protection redlines (accounting for over 30% of China's land area), and about 150,000 square kilometers for marine ecological protection redlines. Through the delineation of ecological protection redlines, the most vital natural ecosystems, unique landscapes, precious natural heritage, and regions with abundant biodiversity in China are comprehensively protected, ensuring the large-scale and holistic protection of crucial natural resources, ecological spaces, rare and endangered species, and habitats, leaving a valuable natural legacy and a beautiful homeland for future generations.

It is reported that China plans to further optimize its national spatial development pattern, utilizing the ecological protection redline as the foundation for building a green China. Initiatives such as the development of a system of natural conservation areas primarily based on national parks, ecological protection and restoration projects, and the optimization of agricultural, ecological, and urban functional spatial structures are intended to support high-quality development. This will help shape new dynamics and advantages for urban and rural high-quality development. Additionally, China will further improve the principal functional area system, deepen reform in natural resource asset ownership, refine land use control mechanisms, and expand the value realization of ecological products and the “Two Mountains” transformation path, diversify ecological products and enhance spatial value through regional characteristics, transform natural resources into assets, capital, and funds, turn ecological advantages into developmental strengths. Furthermore, work to advance the construction of a digital governance system for building a beautiful China. This involves adhering to unified base maps, standards, planning, and platforms to accelerate the development of digital and smart land systems, incorporate ecological protection red lines into the digital governance system for building a beautiful China, with the goal of contributing to and leading the development of digital ecological civilization.

03

The National Forestry and Grassland Administration unveiled the latest achievements in building a beautiful China

on the 15th, the first National Ecology Day event was held in Huzhou, Zhejiang The event themed at “Green Mountains and Clear Water are Equal to Gold and Silver”. The event included the opening ceremony, the release of key achievements in ecological civilization, an exchange of experiences in ecological civilization development, and a conference on green, low-carbon innovation.

At the first National Ecology Day event, The National Forestry and Grassland Administration unveiled the latest achievements in building a beautiful China: China's ecosystem quality continues to improve; China leads in combating desertification and soil erosion worldwide; significant milestones have been reached in national park construction; ecological protection systems are further strengthened, and the ecological well-being of the people is being solidly advanced.

In ecological system quality, China has continuously strengthened ecological protection and restoration, advancing the integrated protection and comprehensive management of mountains, waters, forests, fields, lakes, grasslands, and deserts. The forest area and stock have seen continuous growth, with the national forest coverage rate increasing from 21.63% to 24.02%. The area of preserved artificial forests has reached 1.314 billion mu (about 87.6 million hectares), ranking first in the world. Over the past decade, China has contributed to approximately one-fourth of the global increase in afforestation areas, ranking first in the world. China’s grassland area cover total 3.968 billion mu, ranking first in the world. China's wetlands cover a total area of 845 million mu, ranking fourth in the world.

Through intensive implementation of key ecological projects such as the “Three Norths” project, China has successfully controlled desertification on an area of 305 million mu, primarily treated 53% of the land with treatable sandification. Desertification and sandification land areas have achieved “double reduction” leading to the early realization of the United Nations' goal of “zero growth” in land degradation by 2030, providing a China solution for combating desertification for the world.

In national park development, the first batch of 5 national parks has achieved notable success. These national parks have ensured overall protection of the sources of the Yangtze river, Yellow river, and Lancang river and established 13 regional panda ecological corridors, protecting over 70% of the wild giant panda population. Northeast tiger and leopard populations continue to increase, with over 50 manchurian tigers
and over 60 manchurian panthera leopard. The gibbon in Hainan's tropical rainforest national park has recovered to 6 groups with a total of 37 individuals.

Improved ecological protection system China has comprehensively established a forest ranger system. There are nearly 1.2 million forest rangers at various levels, forest ranger system has become a “sharp sword” playing a critical role in the protection and management of forest and grassland resources. China has enacted the Wetland Protection Law and revised the Forest Law and Wildlife Protection Law, establishing a legal framework covering the four major ecosystems of forests, grasslands, wetlands, and deserts and the protection of wildlife.

China has enhanced ecological benefits for the people, over 5.08 million ancient or famous trees are comprehensively protected. The per capita area of park green spaces has increased from 11.80 square meters to 14.87 square meters. China has promoted edible oil tea industry, the total area of oil tea plantations in China is approximately 70 million mu, with a total industry output value of 8.37 trillion yuan in 2022. The forest ranger workforce is stable at 1.1 million.

Source: Guangming Daily

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