Further Deepening Green Development

By Zhao Zheng

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Further Deepening Green Development

By Zhao Zheng

Asia-Pacific Green Development Center, Beijing Normal University

The Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee adopted The Proposal of the CPC Central Committee on the 13th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development, listing green development as one of the five major development concepts, and placing the green development in a higher and more important position. This is CPC’s another major innovation of the socialist development theory with Chinese characteristics, but also overall arrangements and strategic layout by the CPC for China's economic and social sustainable development. This topic is one of the focuses of the annual sessions of the NPC and the CPPCC. Therefore, it is necessary for us to further understand basic connotation of the green development, clarify the main tasks of the green development, unify the green development concept and action together, and provide new impetus and release new energy to China’s economic and social development for the 13th Five-Year period and even a longer period of time to come.

I. Green Development is the Inheritance and Deepening of the Global Sustainable Development Concept

Since the 1950s, after the baptism of large-scale industrial civilization, economic, resources, environment, society and other problems have become increasingly sharp, further provoked the human green reflection on development models. In 1972, the Club of Rome issued a report on the Limits to Growth, believing that the earth's resources are limited, the economy cannot remain sustainably developed, and proposing the extreme zero growth strategy. The same year, the United Nations convened the first Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, putting forward the slogan -- "Only One Earth", and adopted the humankind first international environment declaration - Declaration on the Human Environment, promoting human social identity on the concept of sustainable development.

In 1987, led by Mrs. Rand Bren World Commission on Environment and Development reports "Our Common Future", then officially using the concept of "sustainable development", defining sustainable development as development to meet the needs of the contemporary generation and constituting no damage of the capacity to meet the needs of future generations. In 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development adopted the Agenda 21, shaped a worldwide sustainable development action plan, and pushed the concept of sustainable development to the level of action. In 2000, the United Nations Millennium Summit adopted the Millennium Declaration, developed the millennium development goals, established the specific indicators of development and implementation timetable for the first time on a global scale. On September 25, 2015, the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit held in New York United Nations Headquarters adopted the programmatic document: Transforming Our World -- the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development", established 17 goals and 169 specific objectives, described the grand blueprint for global development in the next 15 years to come, is the global goal and program to achieve the elimination of poverty, protect the earth, to ensure that all peoples share the prosperity. Green development concept and the sustainable development concept are interconnected.

In 1989, the British environmental economist David Pearce, etc. in their book entitled "Blueprint for a Green Economy " first proposed the term "Green Economy", and equated green economy with sustainably developed economy, and from the perspective of environmental economy deeply discussed the means of realizing sustainable development through green economy. In 2008, the United Nations Environment Programme launched the "Global Green Economic Initiative", aiming to make global leaders and relevant departments policy-makers recognize "green" economy is not a growth burden, but a growth engine, calling on major countries to develop green economy, and realize transformation of the economic growth modes. Subsequently, in 2009, the OECD released the Green Growth Declaration, the European Union in 2010 issued the EU 2020, all take green development as the core strategy to enhance regional and national competitiveness. Currently, the green development has become a new trend and tide in the global environment and development, in the short term, can quickly boost employment and boost economy, but also can effectively adjust the economic structure, rationalize the relationship between resource environment and economic growth; in the long run, can be more conducive to sustainable and broad-based growth, and achieve the true coordination and sustainable development.

On the whole, green development is a rising development mode in the background of sustainable development theory. Green development takes sustainable development of economy, society, nature and environment as the starting point, highly consistent with the core values of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, both development patterns of which are to pursue economic returns, ecological returns and social returns, and to emphasize the development fairness, sustainability and growth, the two long-term common goals can be understood as the transformation of development modes, and increase of human well-being.

But it should be noted that the connotations of green development concept and sustainable development concept still have a difference: first, green development lays more emphasis on the development rather than simple resource conservation and environmental protection, more on "development" on the basis of sustainability; second, green development lays more stress on action rather than philosophy, more practical operation; third, green development lays more stress on overall coordination rather than local improvement, is a process of economic, social and environmental interaction and the common development of government, enterprises, public and other different subjects, take into account the interests of both sides, promote the overall coordination of development.

Currently, China-advanced concept of green development is not only a new positioning and a new height of development, but the targeted, practical and feasible means and path of development, the core of which views resource environment as an endogenous growth factor, through transformation of the dynamic mechanism and the mode of development, achieves high efficiency and high level of development with the scientific green concept, intelligence, capital, technology and institution, enhances the green development ability with high-quality development effects, solves the contradiction between economic growth, social progress and ecological balance, and realizes the fundamental transformation of development mode with these guidance. In the long run, China’s green development not only has important and far-reaching influence on its own development, but is the inheritance and deepening of world concept of sustainable development, and shows the role for China as a responsible major country to play.

II. Green Development Needs to Command Three Important Relationships

. The discussion about "man and nature" has a long history in ancient China, the idea of "harmony between man and nature" includes the concept of originating from nature, going with nature, benefiting nature and nurturing nature. But along with the increased industrialization and urbanization, the growing population and the progress of productivity, the antithesis thinking between man and nature becomes increasingly obvious, nature gradually becomes the means and tools for humankind to attain goals, hitherto humankind is destroying earth ecosystem with unprecedented speed and manner. Therefore, in order to achieve green development, we must first of all re-examine and think about the relationship between man and nature.

Firstly is to change the concept, correctly and objectively look at the natural environment we are creating and transforming. Secondly is to attach great importance to the value of nature, view the earth itself as a huge organism, face the expanding crisis and challenges of over-exploitation of resources and serious environmental pollution, comprehensively achieve decoupling between economic development and consumption of non-renewable resources and the pollutant emissions, reduce resource consumption, repair the natural ecological system. Thirdly is to give play to the value of nature. Green development is different from the traditional environmental protection, is emphasizing the green development models and governance modes, seeking a balance between man and nature, basing the consumption and production on the natural ecological rationality, reconfiguring natural capital, human capital, material capital and technology capital, effectively accumulating ecological capital and ecological wealth.

Green development needs to develop growingly. Economic growth in the process of green development needs to abandon the concept of growth first, but there is no need to slow down the growth process, and put too much emphasis on zero growth. Because economic prosperity is a solid foundation for green development. If there is no increase in the material wealth brought by economic growth, we will be short of funds for governance of the environment and improvement of the livelihood, economic growth should be seen as the only way to green development.

Only on the basis of stable economic growth, can environmental governance and ecological protection be sustainable. Therefore, the green development needs to correctly understand and deal with economic growth, put emphasis on quality rather than material expansion, maintain economic prosperity and stability, particularly require innovative products, technology, culture, business model and system, make efforts to achieve economic growth. Meantime, development can not commit "growth Mania", is only concerned about economic data such as GDP, inflation rate and others while ignoring the "costs of economic growth" and the loss of social welfare behind economic growth. Green development is after all the development of people. The reduction of the poor population, the people health level, the state of safety, the quality of life and the quality of culture continuously improve, which is not only the driving force of green development, but also the purpose of green development. Green development is to build a development mechanism conducive to benefiting vulnerable groups, to enhance the inclusiveness and sharing in the development process and the results, to achieve the development opportunities fairness and welfare optimization.

Under the conditions of market economy, whether the public sectors, enterprises, individuals or families seek maximum benefits, and green development needs to comprehensively consider the demands of different interests groups, and strive to achieve the overall interests based on balance of these interests, the core of which is to handle well the relationship between government and market. From the government perspective, since the ecological system has the property of public goods, there is a large gap between the protection of social return of the ecological environment and private income, so the market mechanism does not necessarily encourage people to protect the ecological environment. Giving full play to the government's macro-control, the administrative organization ability and behavior guidance, establishing a strict and appropriate environmental control (such as emission control and environmental taxes) can improve the enthusiasm of people to participate in environmental protection, turn peoples green behavior from passive to active, so that enterprises are willing to carry out the green transformation, and provide more green products and services. From the market perspective, soundly functioning market helps to reflect the marginal value of the ecological system, to lessen the impact of economic growth on resources and environment, stimulate people to reduce resource consumption, stimulate enterprise to develop and adopt greener technology, promote enterprises in line with command of the supply and demand information and price signals of green production and the consumer market to configure the technology, capital and human elements rationally, and include the ecological value into the original value system through economic leverage, we can produce more green products and services at the same cost by improving the input-output efficiency. As providers of supplying factors of production and consumers of green products demand, individuals and families will not only enjoy benefits in the green development process of government and enterprises, but also affect returns through green consumption concept and behavior.

III. Current four key tasks to promote green development

To construct a livable ecological environment, the core is through comprehensive deepening reform to improve the ecological civilization system; on the basis of strengthening the air, water and soil environmental governance and controlling the total amount of resources and energy consumption, improve energy and resource efficiency and effects, and based on the rule of law, focally revise and amend local laws, regulations and normative documents in conflict with green development or unfavorable to green development, and establish the ecological value and ecological development concept featuring ecological priority; adhere to the red line thinking, and make a sound front-end system design; with law as guarantee, strengthen the institutional control of the process; with evaluation of the system as a guide, improve the incentive and restraint mechanisms, establish green development institutional system based on a sound integrity system, shape a long-term mechanism to protect the green development, encourage and guide green development。

To construct green production mode, the core of which is, based on the major background of China’s changing stage of economic development, structural adjustment and transformation of development mode, to take the innovation as the fundamental driving force to improve the quality of economic growth; with improving the quality and efficiency of economic development as the center, optimize the factors configuration such as labor force, capital, technology and management, stimulate laborers and enterprises innovation, ability and vitality, comprehensively promote flourishing development of new technologies, new industries, and new industrial momentum; highlight the push and influence on the economic growth by all-dimensional innovation, release new demand, and create new supply with science and technology innovation as the core; through fundamental replacement of the traditional economic model by economic mode innovations, transform from the original main reliance on general factors such as labor, capital, resources, energy and others to main reliance on advanced factors such as talent, technology, information and others to achieve green development based on high-efficient and high-quality growth.

To crystallize green development factors, the core of which is to build a healthy and vibrant green governance system; with the common goal of green development as guidance, to give a better play to the role of government in green development, raise the government level of scientific decision-making, encourage social capital to enter the ecological environmental protection and social service market, guide and support growth of environmental protection and social green development organizations, support public participation in the public policy formulation of ecological environment and in the administrative process, command the characteristics of the Internet era to promote convenient, sharing, interactive and efficient governance mechanism, combine governance main body capability, governance mechanism and governance means together, crystallize government, enterprise and individuals integrated strength through an improved system of governance .

. Commonly sharing the achievements of green development, the core of which is to promote synchronized elevation of green economic growth and people's welfare level, push transformation of development from "material development" to "human development", accelerate social construction to focus on improving people's livelihood, assure that "there are teachers for education, returns for labor, medical doctors for sick persons, care for old-aged and housing for residents". Meanwhile, enhance the development fairness, provide a unified, fair and inclusive basic welfare, help vulnerable groups to improve knowledge and skills for their economic activities, provide more opportunities for vulnerable groups, so that more people can participate in and share the opportunities and achievements of green development.

(Excerpts of an article from www.dangjian.cn)