Sustainable development

The UN convened two summits on the earth’s future in the last century. The Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, adopted by the Stockholm Conference in June 1972 raised the concept of “sustainable development”. Since the passage of the Rio Declaration on the Environment and Development, or Earth Charter, in 1992, the situation regarding global sustainable development has undergone profound changes.  Sustainable development has gradually become an international consensus.

China, as the biggest developing country and “world factory”, is in the stage of accelerated industrialisation. Its stance on sustainable development duly attracts more focus across the world.

China has firmly supported sustainable development endeavours over the past four decades, particularly since it commenced reform and an opening-up policy in 1978. It is fair to say that China is a significant participant in sustainable development. China’s “Agenda 21” – the White Paper on China’s Population, Environment and Development in the 21st Century – was issued in 1994, and sustainable development was upgraded into a national strategy in 1996. It’s worth pointing out that President Hu Jintao outlined the “Scientific Outlook on Development” – featuring people-oriented, comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development – in 2003. Concepts such as a resource-saving and environmentally-friendly society, an innovation-oriented country, ecological civilisation and green development have come into fruition. 

Strict rules on arable land and water resource protection have been set up, as China’s population, arable land and water resources per capita represent respectively 20 per cent, 10 per cent and 28 per cent of the world’s total. Its poverty alleviation policy has reduced its poor population from 94,220,000 to 26,880,000, with poverty incidence declining from 10.2 per cent to 2.8 per cent in the last decade. This makes China the first country to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty. 

China has conducted a series of unprecedented ecological projects in natural forest protection, farmland-to-forest transition and grazing area to grassland transition. Forest plantation has reached 61.6 million hectares over the past twenty years. China has unswervingly strengthened its measures on energy saving, emissions reduction and pollution control. GDP per unit of energy consumption, sulfur dioxide emissions and chemical oxygen demand have decreased by 21 per cent, 16 per cent and 14 per cent respectively since 2005. Urban sewage and waste treatment rates increased to 82.31 per cent and 77.94 per cent, respectively, 48 per cent and 30 per cent higher than 2000. 

China has, all along, been an active partner in international sustainable cooperation, honouring its commitments and international treaties it has joined, while also providing assistance to other developing countries and least developed countries. Through unremitting efforts, China has not only found a path to sustainable development suitable to its national conditions, but also made positive contributions to sustainable development worldwide. 

Meanwhile, as a developing country with a huge population, fragile ecosystem and inadequate per capita resources, China’s sustainable development also faces a host of tough challenges.

The world remains under the dark cloud of financial crisis. Uncertainties remain about economic recovery. In some developed countries, the political will to fulfill commitments made to sustainable development has weakened. The natural environment and resources pose constraints on China’s development. Its per capita resources such as fresh water, arable land and petroleum are much lower than the world average. Moreover, most of its natural resources are located in its western, underdeveloped regions. The costs of exploitation, utilisation and protection are comparatively higher. The natural ecological environment of China, as a whole, is vulnerable.

To restructure development while at the same time accelerating it doubles the pressure on this developing country. Development remains imbalanced and uncoordinated. The unreasonable industrial structure, imbalance in external and internal demand, imbalance in investment and consumption, and the problems of uncoordinated regional, economic and social development have not yet been fundamentally solved. In addition, the phenomena of weak technological innovation capacity and institutional obstacles still exist.

Sustainable development remains a priority for China’s future, in terms of both its own and global development. China will find solutions to the problems of development by further transforming its mindset, innovating, promoting new development modes, and improving sustainability and ecological security at all levels. To coordinate economic growth, social development and environmental protection as well as diversify development modes, China is willing to strengthen cooperation and joint efforts with other parties – to make more contributions in promoting global sustainable development on the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities”. 

 

Guan Mu is ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China.