Southern Daily: Step by Step Forward to Protect Green Waters and Mountains

The construction of ecological civilization is a fundamental plan related to the sustainable development of the Chinese nation.  

  Once, we left a lot of debts in the ecological environment, with severe haze. General Secretary proposed countermeasures: "The primary task of dealing with haze pollution and improving air quality is to control PM2.5."

During the 2014 APEC meeting in Beijing, the sky was azure. A netizen said, "This kind of blue sky is' APEC Blue ', beautiful and brief, and after a while it will disappear.".   Some foreign observers believe that "it is impossible to change something without 30 to 50 years", but in a short time span, a gratifying change has been achieved - in just a few years, Beijing has changed from "heavy haze" to "blue sky permanent", and the term "haze" has also changed from "no one cares" to "no one cares". This is a change that everyone feels firsthand, reflecting the historic, transitional, and global changes made in China's ecological civilization construction.

Ecological and environmental issues test the perspective of history and also witness the resilience of development. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, we have carried out a series of pioneering work with unprecedented determination, intensity, and effectiveness.

There is no substitute for the ecological environment, which is difficult to preserve without realizing it. We will start by addressing prominent ecological and environmental issues and deepen the three major defense battles of blue sky, clear water, and clean land. After persistent efforts, China's sky has become bluer, the ground greener, the water clearer, and the rivers and mountains thousands of miles more colorful. The environment is people's livelihood, the green mountains are beautiful, and the blue sky is also happiness. We handle the relationship between development and protection well, and shape new driving forces and advantages for development through high-level environmental protection. Many places that practice the concept of "green mountains and clear waters are like mountains of gold and silver" have already tasted the sweetness of "ecological rice". Promoting carbon peak and carbon neutrality is our solemn commitment to the international community. We assume the responsibility of a major country, demonstrate the responsibility of a major country, handle the relationships between development and emission reduction, overall and local, long-term and short-term goals, government and market, and achieve a significant transformation from a participant in global environmental governance to a leader.

On a new journey, China's ecological civilization construction is still in a critical period of pressure accumulation and heavy progress, and the structural, root cause, and trend pressures of ecological environment protection have not been fundamentally alleviated. Some old problems are still emerging, sewage is still being illegally discharged along the banks of rivers, heavy metal pollution on land is not optimistic, and solid waste dumping across regions is repeatedly prohibited in some areas. The city is dumping into the village, and the village is simply dumping on the road. New problems are also emerging one after another. At this year's National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, many representatives and members proposed new pollution control measures, such as addressing the large-scale compaction of farmland caused by "white pollution" of plastic films and the harm of marine plastic particles to marine organisms.  

Only by truly grasping can we overcome difficulties, and by doing practical work can our dreams come true. On the new journey, we will persist and strive to make progress, ensuring that the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee are implemented and effective. We will definitely build a beautiful China with green mountains, flowing green water, and fresh air, and achieve modernization of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.

南方日报：一步步往前走 守护绿水青山

生态文明建设是关系中华民族永续发展的根本大计。3月6日，习近平总书记在看望参加全国政协十四届二次会议的民革、科技界、环境资源界委员并参加联组会时，回顾新时代生态文明建设奋进历程，深入总结经验，指导发展实践，寄望广大环境资源界委员要在加强生态环境保护、以高水平保护支撑高质量发展上作出新贡献。

“当年的沙尘暴就像PM250。咱们从PM250过渡到PM2.5，现在PM2.5也解决得差不多了，这些年在一步步往前走。”习近平总书记开门见山，从北京的沙尘暴讲起，把大家的记忆拉到了过去。曾经，我们在生态环境方面留下了不少欠账，雾霾比较严重，总书记提出对策：“应对雾霾污染、改善空气质量的首要任务是控制PM2.5。”

2014年北京APEC会议期间，天空一片蔚蓝。有网友说，“这样的蓝天是‘APEC蓝’，美好而短暂，过了这一阵就没了”。习近平总书记在APEC欢迎宴会上作出庄严承诺，“这并不是一去不复返的短暂蓝天，未来北京将会有持久的蓝天”。这个被国外一些观察者认为“不花三五十年是不可能改变的事”，却在短短的时间跨度里实现了可喜的变化——仅仅过了几年，北京就由“雾霾重重”变成了“蓝天常驻”，雾霾这个词也从“风头无两”变为“无人问津”。这是每个人切身感受到的变化，反映的是我国生态文明建设取得的历史性、转折性、全局性变化。

生态环境问题，考验历史的眼光，亦见证发展的韧性。党的十八大以来，我们开展一系列开创性工作，决心之大、力度之大、成效之大前所未有。

生态环境没有替代品，用之不觉，失之难存。我们从解决突出生态环境问题入手，深入推进蓝天、碧水、净土三大保卫战。经过顽强努力，我国天更蓝、地更绿、水更清，万里河山更加多姿多彩。环境就是民生，青山就是美丽，蓝天也是幸福。我们处理好发展和保护的关系，通过高水平环境保护塑造发展新动能、新优势。很多践行“绿水青山就是金山银山”理念的地方，早已尝到了“生态饭”的甜头。推进碳达峰碳中和，是我们对国际社会的庄严承诺。我们承担大国责任、展现大国担当，处理好发展和减排、整体和局部、长远目标和短期目标、政府和市场等关系，实现由全球环境治理参与者到引领者的重大转变。

正如习近平总书记所总结：“只要看到我们是在往前走着，就要保持定力。而且，不要光批评、指手画脚，而是真正行动、干起来。”

迈上新的征程，我国生态文明建设仍处于压力叠加、负重前行的关键期，生态环境保护结构性、根源性、趋势性压力尚未根本缓解。一些老问题还在沉渣泛起，江河沿岸仍存在污水偷排，土地重金属污染不容乐观，还有部分地区固体废物跨区倾倒屡禁不止，城里往村里倒，村里干脆往路上倒。新的问题也此起彼伏，今年全国两会上，不少代表委员提出了新污染物治理，针对地膜“白色污染”造成耕地大面积板结、海洋塑料微粒危害海洋生物等提出了对策。“解决老问题是当务之急，但也要重视新问题，得同步抓。”习近平总书记的深思熟虑，既是认识论，也是方法论，为新征程上做好生态环境保护工作提供了科学指引。

真抓才能攻坚克难，实干才能梦想成真。新征程上，坚持不懈、奋发有为，确保党中央决策部署落到实处、见到实效，我们一定能建成青山常在、绿水长流、空气常新的美丽中国，实现人与自然和谐共生的现代化。