How to curb the "two highs" project against the wind

Interview with Yan Gang, Deputy Dean of the Environmental Planning Institute of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment

  On September 6, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment announced the second round of the fourth batch of typical cases of central ecological and environmental protection inspections, pointing out that there are problems in some places such as coal substitution, fraud, and illegal construction of "high energy consumption" and "high emission" projects.

Previously, in the first three batches of central ecological and environmental protection inspectors in the second round of feedback, some places also violated laws and regulations to launch "two highs" projects.

  The blind development of the "two highs" project not only affects the improvement of regional environmental quality, but also seriously affects the achievement of the carbon peak and carbon neutral goal.

General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over the 21st meeting of the Central Deep Reform Commission and emphasized that we should strictly control the entry gates of the "two highs" projects, promote resource conservation and efficient use, and cultivate new green and low-carbon kinetic energy.

  Why do some areas have to go against the wind to launch the "two highs" project?

How to contain and control?

How to rectify?

The reporter interviewed Yan Gang, deputy dean of the Environmental Planning Institute of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

Resolutely curbing the blind development of the "two highs" project is an important measure for the complete, accurate and comprehensive implementation of the new development concept

Reporter: What are the main projects of "high energy consumption" and "high emissions", and what harm will they cause to the ecological environment?

  Yan Gang: "High energy consumption" and "high emission" projects, which are commonly referred to as "two highs" projects, involve a wide range of industries and coverage.

Specifically, the “two highs” projects generally refer to projects in the coal power, petrochemical, chemical, steel, non-ferrous smelting, building materials and other industries. These industries are key industries for pollutants and carbon dioxide emissions. According to estimates, they account for national carbon dioxide emissions. Above 70%, the main air pollutant emissions are about 50%.

  At present, some "two highs" projects have problems such as incomplete procedures, production capacity replacement of "one woman and multiple marriages", unrealistic coal substitution, ineffective implementation of approval requirements, and inadequate energy-saving reviews.

Due to its characteristics of high energy consumption and high emissions, the blind development of the "two highs" project will lead to excessive consumption of resources and energy, causing environmental pollution and carbon emissions problems, and exerting tremendous pressure on the continuous improvement of the ecological environment quality and the reduction of pollution and carbon.

If the “two highs” projects are blindly launched and cannot be effectively curbed, it will not only raise my country’s carbon emission levels, increase the pressure on pollution control and ecological protection and restoration, but also have significant high-carbon lock-in issues, which may result in “shelved assets” and investment. Financing risks have aggravated the contradiction between economic development and ecological environment protection, and seriously affected the realization of the vision of a beautiful China and the goal of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality.

Reporter: From the perspective of optimizing and adjusting the industrial structure and promoting economic and social development, what is the important practical significance of containing the "two highs" project?

  Yan Gang: The Party Central Committee attaches great importance to resolutely curbing the blind development of the "two highs" project.

The "14th Five-Year Plan" and the 2035 long-term goal outline propose that we must resolutely curb the blind development of "two highs" projects and promote green transformation to achieve positive development.

When presiding over the 29th collective study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “The high energy-consuming and high-emission projects that do not meet the requirements must be resolutely taken down.” From the perspective of optimizing the industrial structure and promoting economic and social development, Resolutely curbing the blind development of the "two highs" project is an important measure for the complete, accurate and comprehensive implementation of the new development concept. It provides an important starting point for deepening the supply-side structural reform in the new development stage, and brings an important opportunity for the transformation of methods and structure adjustment.

  It is conducive to promoting the optimization and upgrading of traditional industries and promoting the green and low-carbon transformation of industries.

In the process of curbing the blind development of the "two highs" projects, by strictly controlling the increase of the "two highs" projects and optimizing the stock, it can fundamentally solve the problems of the overall low level of the local industry, the heavy structure, the unreasonable layout, and the low-level redundant construction. , To force the elimination of outdated production capacity, transform and improve the green level of traditional industries, and promote the development of the "two highs" industries in the direction of green, environmental protection, low carbon, and recycling.

  Make room for the development of strategic emerging industries and accelerate the conversion of new and old kinetic energy of economic development.

To curb the blind development of "two highs" projects, make more room for the development of strategic emerging industries such as the digital economy and high-tech industries, create more opportunities for the development of green low-carbon products and green environmental protection equipment, and help accelerate the conversion of new and old kinetic energy , Promote the optimization and adjustment of the industrial structure, and promote the overall green transformation of economic and social development.

  Reduce pollutants and carbon emissions from the source, and promote synergy in reducing pollution and carbon.

To curb the blind development of "two highs" projects, cut off the sources of "three wastes" emissions and carbon emissions from the source, reduce the pressure on end-of-environment pollution control and carbon emission reduction, and open up the optimization of the front-end industrial structure to promote pollution reduction and carbon reduction. Key blocking points help to accurately and efficiently promote the continuous improvement of ecological environment quality and the realization of the "dual carbon" goal.

Insufficient subjective understanding, weak control actions, and not yet fundamental changes in development concepts are the main reasons for the “two highs” project in some areas to stand up to the wind

Reporter: According to the person in charge of relevant departments and bureaus of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, at the beginning of the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, high-energy-consuming and high-emission projects in some areas were on the rise.

Why do some areas have to go against the wind to launch the "two highs" project?

  Yan Gang: The "14th Five-Year Plan" period is a critical period for my country to transform its development mode, optimize its economic structure, and transform its growth momentum. It is also a critical period and window period for achieving carbon peaks before 2030.

With the country resolutely curbing the development of the "two highs" projects, some areas still stand up to the wind to launch the "two highs" projects.

The reasons can be summarized in three aspects:

  Insufficient subjective understanding.

Some localities and leading cadres do not have a deep and thorough understanding of the great significance of promoting the achievement of carbon peaks and carbon neutrality and the use of pollution reduction and carbon reduction as the nose to accelerate the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development. Carbon development preparation.

Some places even regard carbon peaks as "carbon charge" and "climbing peaks", believing that before 2030 is a "window period" for increasing the use of fossil energy, they have not clearly recognized the pressure of local high carbon peaks on carbon neutrality. Formed a ideological misunderstanding that before carbon peaks in 2030, some high-energy-consuming and high-emission projects can be carried out, and the use of fossil energy can be continued to be greatly increased.

  Weak control actions.

In some places, the approval and management authority of the "two highs" projects has been decentralized and released, and there is a serious shortage of supervision during and after the event.

At the same time, the national carbon peak carbon neutral top-level design plan has not yet been officially released, and a clear timetable, road map, and construction map for promoting carbon peak carbon neutrality has not yet been established, and effective incentives, constraints, and assessment mechanisms have not been established, which makes some The lack of clear requirements in the region has led to ineffective actions to contain the "two highs" projects, and there has been a lack of government supervision.

  The concept of development has not yet fundamentally changed.

In some regions, the development concept of one-sided pursuit of GDP growth and GDP-led development has not been fundamentally changed. In particular, due to the current downward pressure on the economy and the new crown pneumonia epidemic, there has been a swing in the promotion of green development.

In the choice of development mode, it is easily affected by the dependence of traditional development paths, and the inertia adheres to the extensive development model of high investment, high consumption, and the cost of resources and the environment.

Where local governments have ineffective implementation of the prevention and control measures of the “two highs” projects and the problems are prominent, they shall implement regional approval limits and be included in the central ecological and environmental protection inspector.

Reporter: How to manage and control the "two highs" project from the source? What are the key points of management and control?

  Yan Gang: Prevention and control at the source is a fundamental strategy to curb the blind development of the "two highs" project.

The “Guiding Opinions on Strengthening the Prevention and Control of the Source of the Ecological Environment of Construction Projects with High Energy Consumption and High Emissions” promulgated by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment on May 31 focuses on strict examination and approval, access and supervision, and in the macro, medium and project Three levels have clarified the requirements for ecological and environmental management, and guided the low-carbon and green transformation and development of the "two highs" projects.

See specifically:

  At the macro level, strengthen the management and control of ecological environment zoning, and accelerate the promotion of "three lines and one order" (ecological protection red line, environmental quality bottom line, resource utilization online and ecological environment access list). The application in the site selection of major projects will give full play to the role of "three lines and one single" in leading the rational layout and orderly development of "two highs" projects.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and its surrounding areas where the "two highs" projects are intensive and the task of improving ambient air quality is arduous, more stringent measures must be taken to strictly control the development of the "two highs" projects.

  At the meso level, we will strengthen the effectiveness of planning environmental assessment, and strictly review the comprehensive planning of industries involving the "two highs", special planning for industry and energy, and industrial park planning.

The environmental impact assessment of the park planning with the “two highs” industry as the leading industry must increase the analysis of carbon emissions and emission reduction potential, and promote the green and low-carbon development of the park.

Promote coal power energy bases, modern coal chemical demonstration zones, petrochemical industrial bases, etc. to carry out planning environmental impact tracking evaluation, improve ecological environmental protection measures, and optimize and adjust planning in a timely manner.

  At the project level, it is necessary to strictly implement the environmental review and approval of the “two highs” projects, improve the level of cleaner production and pollution prevention, and promote the coordinated control of pollution and carbon reduction.

Strictly control the environmental access of newly renovated and expanded "two highs" projects, strictly implement industrial policies, and strictly, tightly and realistically control the launch of the "two highs" projects.

It is necessary to strictly implement policies such as industrial planning, production capacity substitution of "two highs" projects, pollutant reduction and substitution, and coal consumption reduction and substitution policies.

Improve the clean production and low-carbon development requirements of the "two highs" projects, incorporate carbon emission impact assessment into the environmental impact assessment system, control carbon emissions from the industrial source, and promote micro-level strengthening of pollution reduction and carbon source control and overall process management.

Reporter: How to rectify the “two highs” projects that have been completed and do not meet the requirements?

  Yan Gang: We must resolutely rectify the completed projects that do not meet the requirements of the "two high" projects, and conduct classified disposal and dynamic monitoring based on specific conditions.

For the "two highs" projects that do not implement the requirements of environmental assessment and energy assessment, they should be ordered to rectify immediately.

Those that cause major environmental pollution or ecological damage shall be ordered to stop production or use according to law, or be reported to the authorized people’s government to order closure.

Staff of the approval and supervision departments who fail to perform their duties in accordance with the law and are not strictly controlled shall be punished in accordance with the law; for the “two highs” projects that have not strictly implemented the requirements of capacity replacement, coal consumption reduction and substitution, and regional pollutant reduction and substitution, strengthen accountability , Including the construction unit and related responsible persons into the industry blacklist and exposing it to the society.

Local governments that implement the "two highs" projects with ineffective prevention and control measures and prominent problems shall implement regional approval limits and be included in the central ecological environment protection inspection.

Establish a system and supervision system with strict prevention at the source, strict management of the process, and severe punishment of consequences, and carry out normalized supervision of the "two highs" project

Reporter: How to carry out normalized supervision and build an effective system and supervision system?

  Strict: To build a system and supervision system with strict prevention at the source, strict management of the process, and severe punishment of the consequences, and to carry out the normalized supervision of the "two highs" projects, the following tasks need to be done:

  Establish a unified management ledger.

The normalized supervision of the “two highs” project involves multiple departments such as development and reform, ecological environment, and industrial information. Based on the dynamic list of the management of each department, a unified management ledger can be promoted to record the name of the project, construction location, and affiliation. Basic information such as industry, construction status, energy-saving review, environmental review approval, etc., and related to capacity replacement should also record the replacement capacity exit equipment, capacity and other information.

  Strengthen supervision and inspection.

Including rigorous energy-saving review, establishment of "two highs" project environmental impact assessment and pollution discharge permit supervision and inspection work mechanism, strengthening of the law enforcement supervision based on pollution permits, and "two highs" enterprises into the "double random, one open" daily law enforcement supervision Wait.

  Strict accountability.

It is necessary to establish working mechanisms such as notification and criticism, early warning of energy use, interviews and accountability, and strict accountability and serious investigation and punishment of areas where work is not carried out well and the access control of "two highs" projects is not strictly controlled.

Incorporate the development of curbing the "two highs" project into the scope of the central ecological and environmental protection supervision, and consolidate the main responsibility of local governments to curb the blind development of the "two highs" project, dual control of energy consumption and pollution control.

  Improve incentive policies.

Improve fiscal and taxation, price, finance, land, government procurement and other policies that are conducive to green and low-carbon development, establish different types of carbon emission total control systems, and promote the construction of a national carbon market.

Strictly implement differentiated electricity price policies, and implement punitive electricity price policies for the "two high" industries where energy consumption and pollutant emissions exceed the limit requirements.

Take the synergy of pollution reduction and carbon reduction as the overall starting point for promoting the overall green transformation of economic and social development, and vigorously promote energy conservation and carbon reduction in the four major sectors of industry, power, transportation, and construction

Reporter: While curbing the development of the "two highs" project, how should energy conservation and carbon reduction work be carried out to ensure that the carbon peak by 2030 and the goal of carbon neutrality by 2060 are achieved on schedule?

  Yan Gang: my country strives to achieve carbon peaks by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. It is a major strategic decision and deployment made by the Party Central Committee after careful consideration. It provides direction and guidance for accelerating the promotion of my country's green, low-carbon, and high-quality development. Energy saving and carbon reduction work puts forward new requirements.

Achieving carbon peaks and carbon neutrality is a broad and profound economic and social change that requires the joint efforts of all localities, fields, and industries.

The synergy of pollution reduction and carbon reduction should be taken as the overall starting point for promoting the overall green transformation of economic and social development, with integrated planning, integrated deployment, integrated promotion, and integrated assessment.

Beginning last year, our institute, together with 14 industry associations and scientific research institutions, carried out carbon emission modeling, scenario analysis, and analysis on six key industries, including electric power, steel, cement, aluminum smelting, petrochemical, and coal chemical industries, as well as transportation and construction. Peak path research, based on key industries and fields, proposed a national carbon emission peak roadmap.

According to the research results, while curbing the development of the "two highs" projects, it is necessary to lead the direction of a comprehensive green and low-carbon transformation of production and lifestyle, and vigorously promote energy-saving and carbon-reduction work in the four fields of industry, power, transportation, and construction.

  The industrial sector has long been the largest area of ​​energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions in my country, and is the key to the country’s overall carbon peak and carbon neutrality.

While strictly controlling the blind growth of the "two highs" production capacity, focusing on the adjustment of industrial structure and the improvement of resource and energy utilization efficiency, speed up the green and low-carbon transformation of industrial production methods, vigorously promote industrial energy conservation and consumption reduction, and build a low-carbon circular industrial system.

  Electricity is the country's largest carbon emission industry, and it is also the main body of my country's energy consumption increase in the next 10 years.

It is necessary to vigorously promote the development of non-fossil energy, comprehensively speed up the layout of wind and solar power sources, and build a new power system with new energy as the main body.

  In the transportation sector, we must vigorously increase the development speed of new energy vehicles, continue to reduce the carbon emission intensity of newly produced fuel vehicles; continue to promote the adjustment of the bulk cargo transportation structure, and accelerate the formation of a medium- and long-distance transportation pattern that is dominated by railways and water transportation; promote green and low-carbon travel, Form a green and low-carbon transportation mode.

  In the construction sector, both energy efficiency improvement and energy structure optimization must be adhered to.

By rationally controlling the scale of buildings, vigorously promoting clean heating in the northern region, improving the energy efficiency standards of new buildings, promoting ultra-low energy buildings, increasing the energy-saving renovation of existing buildings, actively promoting the application of renewable energy in the building sector, and taking multiple measures to control carbon in the building sector emission.

  Our reporter Wu Jing