Plans mapped out to accelerate green transition

China's quest for lucid waters and lush mountains will be expedited, as the nation pursues modernization fueled by new systems and mechanisms that value ecological assets and promote green transition, according to a key resolution.

"Chinese modernization is the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature," said the document, which was made public on Sunday after the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China concluded on Thursday.

To advance its modernization journey, China should further improve the institutional framework for ecological civilization and make concerted efforts to reduce carbon emissions and pollution, advance green development and pursue economic growth, it emphasized.

Ecological civilization is a concept promoted by President Xi Jinping for balanced and sustainable development that features harmonious coexistence between mankind and nature. One tenet of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization states that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets".

Lin Boqiang, head of the China Institute for Studies in Energy Policy at Xiamen University, said the resolution highlights many steps for low-carbon transition, demonstrating the country's unwavering commitment to achieving its climate goals. "This is indeed a good incentive for the domestic market."

As one of its priorities, China will improve its institutional system for environmental governance and the management of its "territorial space and natural resource assets", the document said. For example, the country will "implement region-specific environmental management systems featuring differentiated, targeted regulation" as it strives to strengthen environmental monitoring and evaluation.

A comprehensive and unified system for regulating the use of territorial space of all types across the country and for approval of territorial space plans will be put into place. Mechanisms for accountability review and performance evaluation will be established for environmental protection as well as for the protection, utilization, value preservation and appreciation of natural resources.

Wang Yi, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institutes of Science and Development, emphasized the importance of interdepartmental coordination in the country's process to advance ecological civilization.

"Many environmental issues such as biodiversity conservation, climate change and low-carbon development require interdepartmental coordination," he said, adding that establishing an interdepartmental coordination mechanism would help lower institutional costs.

China will make efforts to set up integrated ecological and environmental governance systems in its major river basins, the document said, adding that it will also comprehensively advance the construction of a nature reserve system with national parks as the mainstay.

The country will further establish and enhance mechanisms to achieve its targets of peaking carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060, including a system for carbon emission statistics and accounting, the document added.