What did China’s 3rd Plenum Resolution say about Ecological Civilization?
China Ecological Civilization newsletter regularly reports on Chinese government documents with importance to ecological civilization.
Its latest report is on the Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernization. It’s a long title. But the core is simple — improving ecological civilization construction related mechanisms.
The Resolution is a very important document to future Chinese social-economic development – what it says about ecological civilization matters.
The related content is in the XII part of the 15 parts resolution. There are 3 Articles included in this explanation. First two are mainly about ecological environment conservation and the last one is about carbon emission reduction.
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Extracts
XII. Deepening Reform in Ecological Conservation
Chinese modernization is the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature. We must work to improve ecological conservation systems and make concerted efforts to cut carbon emissions, reduce pollution, pursue green development, and boost economic growth. We must actively respond to climate change and move faster to improve the institutions and mechanisms for applying the principle that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets.
(47) Improving the basic systems for ecological conservation
We will implement region-specific environmental management systems featuring differentiated, targeted regulation and improve the systems for environmental monitoring and assessment. We will establish sound, united, well-aligned systems for regulating the use of territorial space of all types across the country and for approving territorial space plans. To improve the property rights and management systems for natural resource assets, we will refine the mechanism for the delegation of ownership over public-owned natural resource assets and establish systems for assessing and supervising performance in terms of protecting the environment, protecting and utilizing natural resources, and ensuring that natural resource assets hold their value and appreciate. We will improve the coordination mechanism for ensuring national ecological security. An environmental code will be compiled.
(48) Improving environmental governance systems
We will develop responsibility, oversight, and market systems as well as laws, regulations, and policies to improve environmental governance. We will refine the institutions and mechanisms for ensuring that pollution control practices are targeted, grounded in science, and law-based, and implement an oversight system for stationary pollution sources centered on emissions permits. We will establish systems for the coordinated treatment of new pollutants and management of environmental risks and make a coordinated push to reduce the discharge of various pollutants. The reform to advance the law-based disclosure of environmental information will continue, and an environmental credibility oversight system will be put into place. We will develop systems for integrated upstream-downstream environmental governance in major river basins. Comprehensive efforts will be made to develop the national park-based system of protected areas.
We will implement the management system for ecological conservation redlines, improve the mechanisms for integrated protection and systematic governance of mountain, water, forest, farmland, grassland, and desert ecosystems, and develop multiple funding mechanisms for ecosystem protection and restoration. We will enforce the system of mandatory limits on the use of water resources and replace the water resource fee with a tax nationwide. The coordination mechanism for biodiversity protection will be enhanced, and the systems for developing and protecting marine resources will be improved. We will refine the mechanisms for realizing the market value of ecosystem goods and services. We will further reform the system of paid use for natural resources. We will advance comprehensive compensation for ecological conservation, improve the trans-regional compensation mechanism for ecological conservation, and take coordinated steps to promote compensation for environmental damage.
(49) Improving the mechanisms for green and low-carbon development
We will implement fiscal, tax, financial, investment, and pricing policies as well as standards to support green and low-carbon development, develop green and low-carbon industries, improve incentive mechanisms for eco-friendly consumer spending, and work toward an economy that facilitates green, low-carbon, and circular development. We will optimize policies on green government procurement and refine the green taxation system. We will improve the systems for total resource consumption control and comprehensive resource conservation, as well as the system for recycling waste and used materials. Mechanisms for ensuring clean and efficient use of coal will be refined. We will accelerate the planning and development of a new type of energy system and improve the policies and measures for promoting the absorption of electricity generated from new energy sources into power grids and for the regulation of such energy. Improvements will be made to the working systems for adapting to climate change. New mechanisms will be put in place to facilitate the transition from controlling the total amount and intensity of energy consumption to controlling the total amount and intensity of carbon emissions.
We will establish a carbon emissions statistics and accounting system, a carbon labeling and certification system, as well as a carbon footprint management system. We will also improve the cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions and the trading system for voluntary greenhouse gas emissions reduction. On this basis, we will actively and prudently move toward reaching peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality.
Link of the full text of the whole Resolution:
https://english.www.gov.cn/policies/latestreleases/202407/21/content_WS669d0255c6d0868f4e8e94f8.html
Source:
China Ecological Civilization newsletter, Ying Xue, Jul 29, 2024.