Promoting Green Development and Building Beautiful China —— A series of press conferences on the theme of ＂Ten Years in China＂ focused on the achievements of ecological civilization construction in th
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, September 15thTitle: Promoting Green Development and Building Beautiful China — — The series of press conferences on the theme of "Ten Years in China" focused on the achievements of ecological civilization construction in the new era.
Xinhua News Agency reporter Gao Jing
The construction of ecological civilization is a fundamental plan for the sustainable development of the Chinese nation. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the CPC Central Committee with the Supreme Leader as the core has made unprecedented efforts to build ecological civilization, and the consciousness and initiative of the whole party and the whole country to promote green development have been significantly enhanced, making great strides in the construction of beautiful China. This decade is a decade with the deepest understanding, the greatest strength, the most practical measures, the fastest progress and the most remarkable results in ecological civilization construction and ecological environment protection.
On the 15th, the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee held a series of press conferences on the theme of "Ten Years in China", focusing on the achievements of ecological civilization construction in the new era.
On September 15th, the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee held a series of press conferences on the theme of "Ten Years in China", focusing on the achievements of ecological civilization construction in the new era. Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Yuhua photo
All the phased objectives and tasks of the battle against pollution have been fully completed.
"This is a night sky star orbit map with the background of the Forbidden City meridian gate." Huang Runqiu, Minister of Ecology and Environment, "exposed" a night view of Beijing at the press conference. "This picture is a true portrayal of the improvement of air quality in Beijing."
In 2013, the concentration of PM2.5 in Beijing was 89.5 μ g/m3, and it decreased to 33 μ g/m3 in 2021, a decrease of nearly two-thirds.
Huang Runqiu said that since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the objectives and tasks of China’s tough battle against pollution have been fully accomplished, and the ecological environment has been significantly improved.
Historical changes have taken place in air quality. Compared with 2015, in 2021, the average concentration of PM2.5 in prefecture-level cities and above decreased by 34.8%, and the proportion of excellent days reached 87.5%, an increase of 6.3 percentage points. China has become the country with the fastest improvement in air quality.
The quality of water environment has undergone a turning point. In this decade, the proportion of surface water sections I to III increased by 23.3 percentage points to 84.9%, which is close to the level of developed countries. Black and odorous water bodies in cities at prefecture level and above have been basically eliminated, and the safety of drinking water has been effectively guaranteed.
Fundamental changes have taken place in the quality of soil environment. China has promulgated the law on the prevention and control of soil pollution, carried out detailed investigation of soil pollution status of agricultural land and construction land, and implemented soil pollution risk control.
The quality of the marine environment has improved significantly. In the past decade, the proportion of excellent water quality in coastal waters in China has increased by about 17.6 percentage points, reaching 81.3%. Beautiful bays with clean water, clean beaches, fish gulls and a harmonious sea of people are constantly emerging.
"Although the quality of the ecological environment has improved greatly, it is still improved at the middle and low levels." Huang Runqiu said that during the Tenth Five-Year Plan period, we should use higher standards to fight the tough battle of pollution prevention and control.
Improving the quality and stability of the ecosystem.
Beautiful natural ecology is the basis of harmonious coexistence between man and nature. By 2021, the national forest coverage rate reached 24.02% and the forest stock reached 19.493 billion cubic meters, and the forest area and forest stock kept "double growth" continuously.
Huang Runqiu said that in the past ten years, China’s ecological environment protection system has been systematically improved, and relevant laws and regulations have been formulated and revised, making the legal protection of ecological protection more powerful. China has established a nature reserve system with national parks as the main body, and formally established the first batch of five national parks such as Sanjiangyuan, effectively protecting 90% of terrestrial ecosystem types and 74% of national key protected wildlife populations.
The supervision of ecological protection has been continuously strengthened. Central eco-environmental protection inspectors have effectively solved a number of outstanding eco-environmental damage problems. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment, together with relevant departments, has organized and carried out intensive supervision of the "Green Shield" nature reserve for five consecutive years, and promoted the rectification of more than 5,000 problems in national nature reserves.
The ecological security barrier was effectively consolidated. China has implemented major biodiversity conservation projects and endangered species rescue projects, designated 35 priority areas for biodiversity conservation, and 112 rare and endangered wild animals and plants have returned to the wild.
In addition, China is deeply involved in global biodiversity governance, and the implementation of biodiversity protection targets is better than the global average.
Reverse the rapid growth of carbon dioxide emissions
Huang Runqiu introduced that since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China has placed climate change in a more prominent position in national governance, implemented a national strategy to actively respond to climate change, continuously increased the reduction of carbon emission intensity, and continuously strengthened the independent contribution target (NDC), which has promoted economic and social development to the track of comprehensive green transformation and achieved remarkable results.
In the past ten years, China’s carbon emission intensity has decreased by 34.4%, reversing the rapid growth of carbon dioxide emissions, and green has increasingly become the bright background of high-quality economic and social development.
China has steadily promoted the adjustment of energy structure. In the past ten years, the proportion of coal consumption in primary energy consumption has decreased from 68.5% to 56% in 2021, and the proportion of non-fossil energy consumption has increased by 6.9 percentage points to 16.6%. The installed capacity of renewable energy power generation increased by 2.1 times.
At the same time, the industrial structure has been continuously optimized and upgraded. China vigorously develops green and low-carbon industries, continuously strictly controls the blind expansion of projects with high energy consumption and high emissions, eliminates backward production capacity according to laws and regulations, and accelerates the resolution of excess production capacity. In the past ten years, China has supported an average annual economic growth of 6.5% with an average annual energy consumption growth rate of 3%, and the energy consumption intensity has decreased by 26.2%.
China has continuously improved its carbon sink capacity and its ability to adapt to climate change. In the past ten years, China has become the main force of global greening, and forest carbon sinks have increased by 7.3%. The ability to resist climate risks in key areas such as agriculture and infrastructure has been continuously enhanced. In addition, China has also promoted the construction of a national carbon market and made China contributions to global climate governance.
