How can the ecological red line be held? Institutional development is key

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, a series of major changes have taken place in the national governance pattern and the concept of reform and development, including strengthening ecological civilization construction on the basis of the Scientific Outlook on Development, and clearly incorporating ecological civilization construction into the “Five-Sphere Integrated Plan” overall strategy alongside economic construction, political construction, social construction and cultural construction, striving to build a Beautiful China.

Ecological civilization construction is an inevitable requirement for adapting to the new normal of economic development, and an inevitable requirement for accelerating the transformation of the economic development pattern and realizing green development. Whether ecological and environmental protection can be put into practice depends on institutions. After some officials took up posts in local areas, they pursued image projects and vanity projects; after they were transferred, these projects placed a heavy burden on the local area and even caused serious consequences for the local ecology. In addition, some officials one-sidedly sought rapid development and did not hesitate to sacrifice natural resources such as land, minerals and water resources. The air was polluted, the blue sky was smeared black, the people were promoted, and the environment also deteriorated. The recently issued “Measures for Investigating the Responsibility of Party and Government Leading Cadres for Ecological and Environmental Damage (Trial)” firmly grasp the crucial point of the “key minority”, and for the first time clearly define Party and government cadres, including members of local Party committee leadership, as subjects of accountability. The introduction of this decision is “a sharp institutional sword” and “an institutional barrier” to urge leading cadres to correctly perform their duties and exercise their power in the field of ecological environment.

⟦NL> The introduction of the “Measures” gives greater support and impetus to the cause of environmental protection. From now on, Party and government leaders at all levels must think thrice before acting when making ecological decisions. Holding fast to the “ecological red line” is a lifelong responsibility of leading cadres. Conversely, only cadres who conscientiously fulfill the main responsibility for ecological and resource protection and create a good production and living environment can leave behind lifelong achievements. The “Measures” are not only for determining responsibility, but also reflect the central government's firm determination to govern the ecological environment. Environmental protection is a public issue that the whole people pay attention to and are part of, so it is also the most likely to be pulled to the surface by public opinion; those who destroy green mountains and clear waters will be “investigated no matter how far away they are”.

Wanting both green mountains and clear waters and mountains of gold and silver is a requirement of scientific development. Leading cadres should firmly hold the two bottom lines of development and ecology, and in the process of development must never set development and ecological environmental protection in opposition to each other. They should choose good development industries according to local conditions, take ecological construction as the lifeline of development, and reject any enterprise or project that does not meet ecological and environmental requirements. They must learn to calculate the big account and the long-term account, and must not lose the big for the small or attend to one thing and lose another; they should crack down severely on illegal acts that destroy ecology with a zero-tolerance attitude.

We long to live amid blue skies, clear waters and fresh, abundant nature, and we long for a warm, harmonious and beautiful green homeland, while on the other hand we knowingly or unknowingly destroy, extract from and trample on the fragile ecological environment, making our home gradually become scarred and desolate amid disorder and clutter. The decision that leading cadres will be held accountable for life for causing ecological damage is like a sharp sword constantly hanging over officials' heads; whether it can truly be put into practice is what ordinary people care about, otherwise the sharp sword can only become a slogan and the environment will continue to be destroyed.