Building ecological civilization is related to people's well-being and the future of the country.
The report of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China puts the construction of ecological civilization in a prominent position, emphasizing that it should be integrated into all aspects and the whole process of economic construction, political construction, cultural construction and social construction, and promote the formation of a new pattern of modernization with the harmonious development of man and nature. The ecosystem seems to exist independently outside the social system, but in fact, with the continuous transformation and utilization of nature by human society, the nature we face has become humanized to a great extent. Nature is deeply influenced by human activities and has become an indispensable prerequisite and condition for human social activities. On the other hand, the natural environment has priority for human development. Marx explained in Das Kapital that natural forces are the natural basis of labor productivity, so human practice must follow the laws of nature and realize the harmony between man and nature. The 10,000-year history of human civilization warns people that human economic and social activities cannot exceed the bearing threshold of natural ecosystems. This is an iron law of the development of human society, no exception at all times and in all countries.
As the ruling party in a socialist country, China * * * Production Party has grasped this important law of the development of human society, and in the report of its ruling party congress, ecological civilization construction is juxtaposed with economic construction, political construction, cultural construction and social construction, which is also an organic part of socialist modernization. In addition, the construction of ecological civilization follows the objective law of giving priority to ecological environment, and can fully optimize the environment for the development of human society based on the harmony between man and nature. In this sense, the construction of ecological civilization is the premise and guarantee of the other four constructions.
The construction of ecological civilization is the only way to solve the economic and social development problems in China.
Over the past 30 years of reform and opening up, the average annual economic growth rate of China has reached 9.8%, almost three times that of developed countries in the world. However, due to our extensive growth mode, we rely on high consumption and high input, which is a high growth at the expense of huge environmental resources. Therefore, the environmental problems that have appeared in stages in the process of industrialization in developed countries for hundreds of years have been concentrated in China for more than 30 years, showing the characteristics of "time-space compression" of structure, complexity and compressibility.
At present, China is facing increasingly severe resource bottleneck and environmental pollution. From the perspective of resource bottleneck, China's total resources are small, and the per capita cultivated land, woodland, grassland and fresh water resources are only 43%, 14%, 33% and 25% of the world average respectively. The average per capita share of major mineral resources in the world is 67% for coal, 6% for oil, 50% for iron ore and 25% for copper. In 20 10, China's external dependence on oil, iron ore, copper and other resources exceeded 50%, and the potential risks were increasing. The overall utilization rate of resources is not high, and the phenomenon of resource waste is prominent. Because China is still in the process of rapid development, the demand for cultivated land, oil, natural gas, fresh water, iron ore and non-ferrous metals is increasing day by day, the mode of economic growth has not been fundamentally changed, and the input-output efficiency is not high, so the contradiction between China's economic and social development and resource shortage is becoming more and more serious. Judging from the environmental pollution, in 20 1 1 year, the total amount of chemical oxygen demand and ammonia nitrogen discharged from wastewater in China was 24.999 million tons and 2.604 million tons, respectively, which were among the highest in the world. Nearly a quarter of the monitoring sections of major rivers in China exceed the water quality of Class V, and 90% of urban river sections are polluted to varying degrees. The seven major river systems are generally slightly polluted, and the eutrophication of lakes (reservoirs) is still outstanding. 20 1 1 year, there are 1 1% cities in China that exceed the standard, and the problem of mixed pollution of urban atmospheric environment, mainly particulate matter (PM 2.5), is increasingly prominent. By the end of 20 1 1, the existing soil erosion area was 3,569,200 square kilometers, accounting for 37.2% of the total land area. The output of industrial solid waste in China is 3.2510.406 million tons, and the comprehensive utilization is only/kloc-0 1.997574 million tons, a large part of which is still stored in previous years.
It should be pointed out that ecological deterioration began to cause social stability problems. In recent years, mass incidents caused by environmental problems are increasing rapidly every year. In particular, the 10 billion yuan molybdenum and copper project in shifang city, Sichuan, the paper-making project of Prince Qidong in Nantong, Jiangsu, and the PX project in Zhenhai, Ningbo, Zhejiang, were protested by the masses because of the poor expression of public environmental demands. All these incidents ended with the government's announcement to abandon the construction of the project, which caused great damage to the government's credibility.
It can be seen from the above situation that if the current ecological crisis is allowed to continue, not only the achievements of China's economic construction will be greatly reduced, but also unstable factors will be increased and social contradictions will be intensified; It will not only harm future generations, but also directly threaten the survival of contemporary people. The construction of ecological civilization has become a major problem that must be solved in the process of China's modernization.
Accurately grasp the connotation and essence of ecological civilization construction in Socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Ecological civilization refers to all the achievements made by human beings in the process of utilizing and transforming nature, taking highly developed production as the material basis, following the law of harmonious development between man and nature as the core idea, actively improving and optimizing the relationship between man and nature as the fundamental way, and realizing a resource-saving and environment-friendly society with harmonious development between man and nature as the fundamental goal.
The connotation of ecological civilization includes the following aspects:
First of all, highly developed material productivity is the material prerequisite for the existence of ecological civilization. Ecological civilization is the product of the highly developed stage of modern industrial civilization and a brand-new form of civilization. Its emergence and development have an inevitable historical evolution track, that is, human primitive civilization-farming civilization-industrial civilization-ecological civilization. Ecological civilization can only be produced on the basis of highly developed industrial civilization.
Second, the harmonious development between man and nature is the core concept followed by ecological civilization. Ecological civilization insists on examining the development of human society from the macro perspective of the overall operation law of natural ecosystem, considers human activities in the general pattern of nature, and requires people to act according to the natural ecological law. Both man and nature are indispensable and important factors in social development, and both have important values. Ignoring the value of the natural environment, people's value cannot be realized. This requires us to consider not only the needs of human survival and reproduction, but also the carrying capacity of ecology, resources and environment in promoting modernization, regardless of economic construction or social construction.
Third, actively improving and optimizing the relationship between man and nature is the fundamental way to realize ecological civilization. All economic and social development should rely on the ecological environment, proceed from the reality of environmental carrying capacity, adhere to the "natural ecological priority principle", and actively improve and optimize the relationship between man and nature. While transforming and utilizing nature, we should strive to live in harmony with nature. Achieve a win-win situation between development and environment, and the coordinated development between man and nature.
Fourthly, realizing the sustainable development between man and nature is the fundamental goal of building ecological civilization. Building a resource-saving and environment-friendly society is to achieve the goal of enhancing the stability of the ecosystem, obviously improving the living environment, realizing the harmony between man and nature, and making both man and nature endless and sustainable.
The construction of ecological civilization refers to the social practice process in which people strive to realize ecological civilization. The construction of ecological civilization under the background of underdeveloped productive forces in China is the construction of ecological civilization in the process of modernization. This requires us not only to stand at the height of ecological civilization, the highest form of human civilization, but also to actively create conditions to improve and optimize the relationship between man and nature, man and man, and man and society in accordance with the requirements of ecological civilization from the reality of contemporary China. This determines that we must build a resource-saving and environment-friendly society based on the carrying capacity of resources and environment, guided by the laws of nature and aimed at sustainable development. This also determines that the construction of ecological civilization in China can neither achieve modernization at the expense of ecological civilization, nor achieve "harmony" between man and nature at the expense of modernization. Therefore, the construction of ecological civilization in contemporary China is a "present continuous tense" rather than a "general future tense". Practice shows that the road of "pollution first, treatment later, destruction first, construction later" taken by developed industrial countries is not feasible in China. If we take this road reluctantly, we are likely to be crushed by heavy ecological and environmental costs before fully enjoying the fruits of modernization. This requires us to promote the construction of ecological civilization on the basis of changing the development concept and mode. In the process of modernization for hundreds of years, developed countries have adopted various forms to transfer their own environmental costs to developing countries. China's national nature and the conditions of the times determine that it is impossible to achieve the goal of "ecological civilization construction" through transfer.
Strengthen the strategic measures to promote the construction of ecological civilization
The report of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that "vigorously promoting the construction of ecological civilization" should "adhere to the basic national policy of saving resources and protecting the environment, adhere to the policy of giving priority to saving, giving priority to protection and giving priority to natural restoration, and strive to promote green development, circular development and low-carbon development, form a spatial pattern, industrial structure, a mode of production and lifestyle that saves resources and protects the environment, reverse the deterioration trend of the ecological environment from the source, create a good production and living environment for the people, and contribute to global ecological security. To this end, the construction of ecological civilization in contemporary China must start from the following aspects:
First of all, strengthen guidance and cultivate the concept and consciousness of ecological civilization. The report of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out: "We should establish the concept of ecological civilization that respects nature, conforms to nature and protects nature". At present, quite a few people's ideas are still stuck in the era of traditional industrial civilization. In dealing with the relationship between man and nature, they regard nature as the object of man's understanding, function, transformation and even conquest. As a result, human beings pretend to be conquerors, and the concept of anthropocentrism is constantly strengthened. This is reflected in practice, that is, emphasizing economy over environment, emphasizing speed over efficiency, emphasizing parts over whole, emphasizing short-term over long-term, and emphasizing interests over people's livelihood. Some localities and units pursue high-speed economic growth at the expense of ecology and environment, which leads to conflicts and tensions between man and nature. If we don't get rid of all kinds of old ideas and consciousness and replace them with ideas and concepts of sustainable development, it will be difficult for us to make great strides in the construction of ecological civilization. To build ecological civilization, we must establish the concept of harmonious coexistence between man and nature and establish the ecological civilization consciousness of equality between man and nature. With the awareness of ecological civilization, there will be life and production behaviors that meet the ecological requirements. At present, we should strengthen the education and publicity of ecological awareness, comprehensively improve the public's ecological awareness, and firmly establish the concept of ecological civilization in the whole society.
We should integrate the concept of sustainable development into social production, life and people's communication. Advocating people to pursue a life that not only meets their own needs but also does not harm the natural ecology, and paying attention to the quality of life rather than the satisfaction of simple needs, makes people realize that individual human life can neither harm the natural environment for the survival of groups, nor harm the reproduction and survival of other species. Advocate ecological culture in the whole society and create a social fashion and cultural atmosphere in which everyone cares about the environment. In the field of consumption, we vigorously advocate moderate consumption, fair consumption and green consumption, and oppose excessive consumption and luxury consumption. By advocating the public for environmental protection consumption, we will send an incentive signal of price and demand to the production field, stimulate the research and development and application of clean technologies and processes in the production field, and promote the production and service of environmental protection products. At the same time, through the improvement of production technology and technology, the cost of environment-friendly products is continuously reduced, green consumption is promoted, and finally a benign interaction between green consumption and green production is formed, laying a good foundation for building a resource-saving and environment-friendly society.
In addition, in the process of public participation in the construction of ecological civilization, we should not only put the publicity and education of ecological civilization in place, but also promote information disclosure and public participation and improve the diversified environmental supervision system. International experience shows that in addition to the "top-down" promotion and guidance of the government, the "bottom-up" participation of the public is essential. Public supervision can not only strengthen the environmental supervision of polluting enterprises and make up for the lack of government supervision, but also supervise the government.
Secondly, strengthen measures to implement the strategic deployment of ecological civilization construction. The report of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China puts forward the key tasks of promoting the construction of ecological civilization in the coming period, and requires us to strengthen measures and implement the strategic deployment of ecological civilization construction. It is necessary to optimize the spatial development pattern of land and accelerate the implementation of the strategy of main functional areas. In accordance with the national main functional area planning, we will promote the development of various regions in strict accordance with the main functions and build a scientific and reasonable pattern of urbanization, agricultural development and ecological security. It is necessary to save and intensively use resources and promote a fundamental change in the way resources are used. Strengthen the whole process of saving management, greatly reduce the intensity of energy, water and land consumption, and improve the efficiency and benefit of utilization. Vigorously develop circular economy and promote the reduction, reuse and resource utilization of production, circulation and consumption processes. It is necessary to strengthen the protection of natural ecosystems and the environment, implement major ecological restoration projects, and enhance the production capacity of ecological products; Promote comprehensive control of desertification, rocky desertification and soil erosion, expand the area of forests, lakes and wetlands, and protect biodiversity. Accelerate water conservancy construction and enhance urban and rural flood control, drought resistance and drainage capacity. Strengthen the construction of disaster prevention and mitigation system and improve the ability of meteorological, geological and earthquake disaster prevention. Adhere to prevention first and comprehensive management, focus on solving outstanding environmental problems that harm people's health, and strengthen the prevention and control of water, air and soil pollution.
Third, improve the system and build a guarantee mechanism for the construction of ecological civilization. Protecting the ecological environment must rely on the system. The report of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China put forward "to improve the system and mechanism of land space development, resource conservation and ecological environment protection, and to promote the formation of a new pattern of harmonious development between man and nature and modernization." In order to achieve the above objectives, we must do the following work:
First, it is necessary to incorporate resource consumption, environmental damage and ecological benefits into the evaluation system of economic and social development, and establish a target system, assessment methods and reward and punishment mechanisms that reflect the requirements of ecological civilization. For a long time, the assessment of cadres has overemphasized the indicators of economic growth and regarded GDP as the main assessment standard of economic and social development, which has played an important role in promoting the rapid economic development. However, this kind of performance evaluation standard and system that ignores the cost of resources and environment, as well as the fact that the illegal cost is low and the law-abiding cost is high for a long time, have contributed to various irrational development concepts and behaviors. Therefore, it is very necessary and urgent to change the performance appraisal mechanism.
Second, by perfecting a series of laws and regulations, we will establish a national space development and protection system and improve the most stringent farmland protection system, water resources management system and environmental protection system. Environmental problems are accompanied by economic development, and the fundamental solution of environmental problems is inseparable from economic development and the standardization of legal system. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the government's responsibility and improve the legal system that restricts and regulates environmental behavior. Strengthen the implementation of some systems, focusing on strategic environmental assessment, planning environmental assessment, main functional areas and environmental functional zoning, environmental standards, regional approval restrictions and industry approval restrictions. Strengthen source prevention and put an end to vicious development of land and resources
Events that cause and destroy the environment happen from time to time.
Third, make full use of market means, deepen the price and tax reform of resource products, and establish a system that reflects market supply and demand and the scarcity of resources.
The system of paid use of resources and the system of ecological compensation, which embody ecological value and intergenerational compensation. The establishment of these systems can correct the wrong market signals in resource and environmental prices, promote the real internalization of resource and environmental costs, and prevent polluters from passing on pollution costs to society. We will continue to improve environmental economic policies, promote ecological adjustment of fiscal policies, reform environmental charges and environmental price policies, improve green finance and green trade policies, and establish and improve ecological compensation mechanisms.
Fourth, strengthen environmental supervision and improve the accountability system for ecological environmental protection and the compensation system for environmental damage. Strict accountability of polluters is the key to solve the problem of "low illegal cost and high law-abiding cost" Strengthening the compensation system for environmental damage and perfecting environmental civil liability are not only important measures to protect citizens' environmental rights and interests, maintain social fairness and justice, but also the fundamental way to solve the problem of "low illegal cost" Therefore, a lifelong accountability system for environmental responsibility should be established to make polluters pay a high price for their illegal activities; We should also learn from the experience of developed countries, increase the intensity of administrative punishment, administrative coercion, civil compensation and criminal punishment for polluting enterprises, establish and improve environmental damage relief channels such as administrative rulings and public interest litigation, and earnestly implement corporate environmental responsibilities.
Socialism with Chinese characteristics's ecological civilization construction and the vision of a beautiful China can be a cohesive force. The construction of ecological civilization is also an opportunity to promote China's industrial transformation and develop new economic growth points. Through the construction of ecological civilization, we can not only open up a new road of environmental protection with China characteristics, but also reverse the deterioration of the ecological environment from the source, create a good production and living environment for the people, and make contributions to global ecological security. The construction of ecological civilization will show the superiority of Socialism with Chinese characteristics road to the world and help to explore the road of human sustainable development.