China: National Congress Emphasises on Harmony Between Nature and Development

“Any harm we inflict on nature will eventually return to haunt us..… this is a reality we have to face”, warned President Xi in his opening speech at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. The environmental declaration by China at the Congress is vital as the climate change negotiations are facing increasing hostility from industrialised countries.

The US, under President Donald Trump, has made it clear that it isn’t interested in playing a leadership role in safeguarding the environment. Months before the US president decided to dump Paris climate agreement, Xi had staunchly defended the accord.

“Taking a driving seat in international cooperation to respond to climate change, China has become an important participant, contributor, and torchbearer in the global endeavour for ecological civilisation,” said Xi.

The “ecological civilisation” concept first appeared in 2007, in a report to the 17th National People’s Congress. Xi in the 2007 Congress had stressed on “ecological civilisation reforms” – reforms to reconcile contradictions between economic development and the environment.

The international community applauded the Chinese measures and progress in promoting ecological civilisation. In February 2013, UNEP’s 27th council meeting adopted a decision in promoting China’s ecological civilisation. In April 2014, the UN Alliance of Civilizations and the International Ecological Safety Collaborative Organization founded a sub-committee on ecological civilisation.

China has been cracking down on big industrial polluters in order to reverse the image caused by its rapid industrialisation. According to the environmental experts, China has achieved economic growth over the past years of reform and opening-up, but protecting the environment has become a weakness and impedes national development and the public well-being.

The new environmental regulation issued in 2016 sets the goals of a more environmentally friendly way of living, considerable reduction of major pollutants, and a sounder ecological system by 2020. That goal is in line with the country's pledge to cut carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 60-65 percent from the 2005 level by 2030.

It also honours the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and manifests China's move to build an ecological civilisation.

Environmental protection regulators are completing support measures for the inspections, including the setting up of provincial-level inspection teams, launching a long-term mechanism and passing laws to manage future inspections and environmental protection, Minister of Environmental Protection Li Ganjie told a press conference at the Congress on Monday.

In 2016, the average PM 2.5 concentration in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta was reduced by over 30 percent from 2013 levels.

In April, the government had announced that it aims to have one in every five cars sold in China to run on alternative fuel by 2025.

According to data from Chinese Ministry of Environment Protection areas affected by acid rain dropped by a record 30 percent to 7.2 percent and the reforestation rate increased from 16.6 percent in the early 2000s to 22 percent.

Surpassing the global average, China has around 2,750 nature reserves which cover 14.9 percent of the national land.