The green background of high-quality development continues to be planted

“As of the end of June, China’s installed renewable energy capacity has reached 1.322 billion kilowatts” “China’s installed solar and wind energy capacity in 2023 will be far ahead in the world”… The 2023 Annual Meeting of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development will be held in Beijing in August , talking about China’s energy transition and renewable energy development, Anderson, Vice Chairman of the CCICED, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program, was full of praise, “This is really amazing.”

Founded in 1992, the CCICED is an international high-level policy advisory body. It is precisely because of years of continuous research that senior figures, experts and scholars in the field of environment and development at home and abroad have gained insight into the unremitting efforts and amazing results of the world’s largest developing country in promoting green and low-carbon development.

Let’s take a look at two impressive column trend charts first.

One picture is coal.

In 2012, 68.5%; in 2017, 60.6%; in 2022, 56.2% – the proportion of coal in primary energy consumption has steadily declined year by year.

Promoting the green and low-carbon transformation of the energy structure, “coal-rich” China ranks first in the world in installed hydropower, wind power, and photovoltaic power generation. In the first half of this year, the installed capacity of renewable energy historically surpassed coal power.

Another picture is of new energy vehicles.

In 2014, there were 220,000 vehicles; in 2017, 1.534 million vehicles; in 2022, 13.1 million vehicles; as of the end of September this year, there were more than 18.2 million vehicles – the number of new energy vehicles in the country has increased significantly year by year.

The construction of a green and low-carbon transportation system is accelerating. More than half of the world’s new energy vehicles are driving in China, and production and sales have ranked first in the world for eight consecutive years.

The period between “down” and “up” represents a solid step in green development that prioritizes ecology, and a tenacious struggle to climb over obstacles and overcome difficulties.

What continues to decline is energy consumption per unit of GDP, carbon dioxide emissions, and water consumption… What continues to rise is forest coverage, grassland vegetation coverage, and per capita park green space… A series of data show that the resources for my country’s economic growth Environmental costs continue to decrease, and the “green content” and “gold content” of economic and social development continue to increase.

Thousands of miles of rivers and mountains become more colorful.

The water is clearer, the sky is bluer, and the ground is greener. Environmental monitoring data confirms the tangible and tangible experiences in our daily lives.

For example, the proportion of national surface water sections with excellent quality will rise to 87.9% in 2022, which is close to the level of developed countries. In the first three quarters of this year, it increased by 0.8 percentage points compared with the same period last year.

For another example, in 2022, the proportion of days with good air quality in 339 cities at the prefecture level and above reached 86.5%. China has become the country with the fastest improvement in air quality in the world. Since this year, the rate of good air quality has remained at a high level, and the overall trend of improvement has been obvious.

Green and low-carbon development has gained momentum.

In the first ten months of this year, my country’s new energy vehicle production and sales increased by 33.9% and 37.8% respectively year-on-year. In the first three quarters of this year, the total exports of the “three new items” of foreign trade: electric passenger vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, and solar cells increased by 41.7% year-on-year, accounting for a year-on-year increase of 1.3 percentage points in my country’s exports. Solar cell production increased by 63.2%. Green transformation has an important impact on industry. The drive for production is enhanced. The Hangzhou Asian Games, which takes “green” as an important hosting concept, allows the world to see China’s new high-quality development.

Green, low-carbon, cyclic development is the direction of technological revolution and industrial transformation in today’s era. In this regard, our country has opened up new tracks, created new markets, and formed many new economic growth points.

“Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, and improving the ecological environment is developing productivity.” Correctly handling the relationship between high-quality development and high-level protection, we are constantly shaping new momentum and new advantages for development, and continuing to enhance the potential and stamina of development.

Needless to say, ecological and environmental protection still faces severe challenges. In the first three quarters of this year, the average proportion of days with good air quality in cities at prefecture level and above nationwide dropped by 1.5 percentage points year-on-year, and the average concentration of PM2.5 increased by 3.7% year-on-year.

What do you think? On the one hand, drought, lack of rain and strong winds in the northern region lead to frequent sand and dust weather, which is an important factor; on the other hand, this also shows that the structural, root-cause and trend pressures on ecological and environmental protection have not been fundamentally relieved, and the solution is long-term and complex. , arduous, “The construction of ecological civilization is still in a critical period when pressure is mounting and we are carrying a heavy load.”

Ecological governance has a long and difficult road ahead, but progress is coming soon.

Standing at the strategic height of the sustainable development of the Chinese nation, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has always maintained a clear understanding and strategic determination to strengthen the construction of ecological civilization. Take this year as an example. At the beginning of the year, General Secretary Xi Jinping went to local inspections and surveys, chaired important meetings, and issued important instructions. As always, he attached great importance to and vigorously promoted the construction of ecological civilization as the “biggest country”.

Promoting green and low-carbon economic and social development is a key link in achieving high-quality development. We have traveled through thousands of mountains and rivers, but we still need to cross mountains and rivers.

When Anderson and other foreign experts and scholars participated in the CCICED, they were “surprised by the speed at which China’s transportation vehicles are electrified” and “feel that the city is more livable and the air is cleaner.” As the construction of Beautiful China is fully advanced and the green background of high-quality development continues to be planted, when they come to China again, they will definitely see a more beautiful picture of the harmonious coexistence of man and nature.