Ministry of Ecology and Environment: Environmental protection industry has become an important force in the green economy

The State Council Information Office held a series of themed press conferences on the 27th titled "The Beginning of Authoritative Departments". Huang Runqiu, Minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said at the meeting that last year, the operating income of the national environmental protection industry reached 2.22 trillion yuan, and it has become an important force in the green economy.

At the meeting, a reporter asked: To promote the construction of ecological civilization, how to understand the relationship between high-quality development and high-level protection? What work has the ecological environment department done in this regard? What are your next steps?

Huang Runqiu said that high-quality development and high-level protection complement each other and bring out the best in each other. Ecological and environmental protection work must be considered within the overall situation of implementing new development concepts, building a new development pattern, and promoting high-quality development.

First of all, high-level protection is an important support for high-quality development and is what it should be. Development without green and environmental protection is neither in line with the new development concept nor high quality.

Secondly, high-level protection can ensure high-quality development and keep the bottom line through means such as ecological environment zoning control and environmental impact assessment.

Furthermore, high-level protection can promote the transformation and upgrading of industrial structure, energy structure, and transportation structure through synergies of pollution reduction and carbon reduction and improvement of environmental standards, thus forcing high-quality development.

On the other hand, the results of high-quality development can be achieved by increasing financial investment, developing green finance, ecological compensation mechanisms and other policy tools to promote the construction of ecological and environmental protection projects and the development of environmental protection industries, thus assisting high-level protection.

In recent years, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment has mainly carried out the following work in promoting high-quality development and high-level protection:

The first is to strengthen prevention at the source of the ecological environment. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment has comprehensively promoted ecological and environmental zoning control, and has designated about 40,000 environmental control units across the country, thereby clarifying the bottom line and drawing borders for high-quality development. While strengthening project environmental impact assessment guarantees and serving economic and social development, we also strictly enforce ecological environment access management and secure the bottom line of high-quality development. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment has improved ecological and environmental regulations, policies and standards, strengthened ecological and environmental supervision and law enforcement, and resolutely curbed the blind development of high-energy-consuming, high-emission, low-level projects. By the end of last year, the country had eliminated backward and eliminated overcapacity about 300 million tons of steel, 400 million tons of cement, and 150 million weight boxes of flat glass.

The second is to promote the synergy of pollution reduction and carbon reduction. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment strengthens environmental quality improvement and coordinated management of carbon emissions, and promotes the implementation of structural emission reductions. The number of coal-fired boilers and kilns nationwide has dropped from nearly 500,000 to less than 100,000 currently, reducing coal use by more than 400 million tons. In the northern region, about 37 million households in rural areas have been treated for loose coal, reducing loose coal consumption by more than 70 million tons. 1.03 billion kilowatt coal power units have completed ultra-low emission transformation, and 680 million tons of steel production capacity has completed or is in the process of completing ultra-low emission transformation. More than 30 million old and high-emission motor vehicles will be phased out.

The third is to implement major ecological and environmental protection projects. Vigorously promote the construction of environmental infrastructure, carry out innovative pilot projects for ecological environment-oriented project development (EOD), and vigorously develop the ecological and environmental protection industry. Last year, the operating income of the national environmental protection industry reached 2.22 trillion yuan, and it has become an important force in the green economy. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment promotes the treatment of urban black and odorous water bodies and repairs urban water ecosystems. Black and odorous water bodies in cities at prefecture level and above have been basically eliminated, which not only improves the ecological environment, but also enhances the quality of cities and achieves high-quality development.

The fourth is to create a green development highland. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment has deeply promoted the ecological environment protection work of major national regional strategies such as the coordinated development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, improved and optimized regional joint prevention and control mechanisms, and formed a good pattern of joint protection and joint governance. We have deepened the creation of ecological civilization demonstrations, named 468 ecological civilization demonstration areas in 6 batches and 187 practice innovation bases "Lucid waters and lush mountains are valuable assets", and guided all regions to actively explore new ways of green, low-carbon and high-quality development.

In the next step, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment will properly handle the relationship between high-quality development and high-level protection, coordinate industrial structure, pollution control, ecological protection, and respond to climate change, promote ecological priority, conservation-intensive, green and low-carbon development, and use high-quality ecological The environment supports high-quality development.