Yang Tao: How can Tibet move towards the modernization of harmonious coexistence between man and nature?

Beijing, Nov. 11 (ZXS) -- How can Tibet move toward modernization in which man and nature coexist in harmony?

Author: Yang Tao, Associate Researcher, Institute of Social and Economic Research, China Tibetology Research Center

The concept of harmonious coexistence between man and nature is deeply rooted in traditional Chinese culture, such as "the unity of nature and man" and "animism" and other simple ecological concepts, which are familiar to people of all ethnic groups, shape the values of Chinese in viewing nature, and run through the spiritual roots of the Chinese nation.

Today, on the new journey of Chinese-style modernization, the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has taken "harmonious coexistence between man and nature" as one of the five characteristics of Chinese-style modernization, further pointing out the way forward for China's ecological civilization construction. As an important national ecological security barrier, Tibet is steadily moving forward on the path of modernization in which man and nature coexist in harmony.

In recent years, Tibet's ecological protection has played a more strategic role in the overall situation of the country's work. In particular, the Fifth Central Forum on Tibet Work in 2010 clearly positioned Tibet as an important national ecological security barrier. At the 2020th Central Forum on Tibet Work in <>, Tibet's ecological strategic status was further upgraded to "protecting the ecology of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the greatest contribution to the survival and development of the Chinese nation".

Flocks of black-necked cranes forage in the Area wetland in Dangxiong County, Lhasa, Tibet. Photo by Li Lin

Correspondingly, the state has given strong support to Tibet's ecological and environmental protection in terms of laws, projects, and talents. For example, in terms of legislation, the central government has elevated the legislative work on the ecological protection of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to the national level. Among them, there are national legislation specifically targeting the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, such as the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Ecological Protection of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which was enacted in the form of legislation by the National People's Congress in 2023, and other national legislation involving the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, such as the Yangtze River Protection Law of the People's Republic of China enacted in 2020 and the Yellow River Protection Law of the People's Republic of China in 2022, to protect the ecological environment of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River from the source. Ecological legislation for a region at the national level is rare in the country.

The Seventh Central Forum on Work in Tibet identified four major issues in Tibet's work -- "stability, development, ecology, and strengthening the borders." The four major events must not be lacking or have shortcomings, and they must be well coordinated. To promote the construction of an ecological civilization highland on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, it is necessary to scientifically handle the coordination between ecological protection, economic development, improvement of people's livelihood and international relations.

First of all, we need to coordinate ecological protection and economic development, and take the road of green development. Most of the world's industrialized countries have experienced the dilemma of "pollution first, treatment later", and have paid a huge ecological and environmental price for economic development. The Tibet Autonomous Region has given full play to the ecological wisdom of the plateau for thousands of years, and under the guidance of the central government's concept of green development, it has promoted the transformation of lucid waters and lush mountains into mountains of gold and silver. A number of green industries, such as eco-tourism, organic plateau food, clean energy, digital economy, and green buildings, have achieved rapid development. In 2022, Tibet's digital economy will accelerate its integration into the national layout of "Eastern Data and Western Computing", with an added value of more than 200 billion yuan (RMB, the same below). With the goal of becoming a green road, the Sichuan-Tibet Railway under construction actively avoids environmentally sensitive areas in the planning and design, selects the engineering scheme with the least impact on the ecological environment, and adopts the most stringent ecological and environmental protection measures and the most advanced ecological and environmental protection technology.

The Sichuan-Tibet Railway Lalin Section Plateau Fuxing passed through Duiba in Nyingzhilang County, Tibet. Photo by Wei Fanghe

Second, we need to coordinate ecological protection and improvement of people's livelihood to ensure the most inclusive well-being. Fully guaranteeing the people's pursuit of a better ecological environment is an inherent requirement for upholding the supremacy of the people. On the one hand, Tibet adheres to the concept that the environment is the people's livelihood, and regards the environment as the fairest public good and the most beneficial livelihood and well-being, and protects the environmental rights and interests of people of all ethnic groups. On the other hand, we will adhere to the concept of ecological enrichment, and promote green employment, entrepreneurship and income increase in the ecological sector by investing a large amount of transfer funds from the central government. During the 70th Five-Year Plan period, the autonomous region provided ecological jobs for about 2022,44 people every year, and even in 81, when the achievements of poverty alleviation were consolidated, the number of ecological jobs remained at 2018,2022, and from 663 to 9, <>.<> billion yuan of various ecological subsidy funds were implemented, which effectively promoted the income of farmers and herdsmen, and the vigorous development of entrepreneurial activities in ecological fields such as nursery cultivation, family hotels, and carbon sink technology.

Finally, it is necessary to coordinate domestic and international relations and build a highland of ecological civilization in the world. As a responsible major country, China actively promotes the building of a shared future for all life on earth in the ecological field. The accelerating global climate temperature is increasingly threatening the survival and development of all mankind, and reducing carbon emissions has become a key measure to combat climate change. In terms of energy conservation and emission reduction, China has vigorously promoted the construction of clean energy such as hydropower, solar energy, and geothermal energy in Tibet, so that Tibet achieved self-sufficiency in electricity in 2015, bidding farewell to the era of "burning cow dung, chopping firewood, and digging turf", and effectively protected the vegetation and clean air of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the ecological environment monitoring in 2022 showed that Tibet's air quality was among the highest in the country, with an average of 99.5% of good days. In addition, by the end of 2022, Tibet had exported a total of 114.1136 billion kWh of clean electricity to the rest of the region, equivalent to reducing 12.31 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions into the Earth's atmosphere. In terms of vegetation protection, since the <>th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Tibet's forest coverage rate has increased to <>.<>% through vigorous mountain closure and afforestation, which has greatly enhanced the carbon sink capacity of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. In terms of water resources protection, Tibet has invested a lot of money and manpower to strengthen river water quality monitoring and agricultural water pollution prevention and control, ensuring that the water quality of transnational rivers such as the Lancang, Nu and Yarlung Zangbo rivers meets Class II standards, so that downstream countries and regions also have clean water sources.

In June 2020, in Zhanang County, Shannan City, Tibet, the staff inspected the power facilities of Tibet's first multi-disc confocal tower concentrator collector. Photo by Song Weixing

On the new journey, beautiful Tibet has become the common aspiration of people of all ethnic groups across the country to pursue a better life. Today, with the implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Ecological Protection of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the accelerated application of the results of the second scientific expedition to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the gradual improvement of the investment mechanism for ecological and environmental protection, and the continuous excavation and improvement of traditional ecological culture, a beautiful picture of harmonious coexistence between man and nature is unfolding on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, contributing Tibet's strength to Chinese-style modernization and sustainable human development. (ENDS)

About the Author:

Yang Tao is an associate researcher at the Institute of Social and Economic Research of the China Tibetology Research Center, with a Ph.D. in economics, and is engaged in research on the sustainable economic and social development of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. He has presided over 2 projects of the National Social Science Foundation of China and 1 China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, published more than 20 academic papers, provided more than 30 think tank reports, and published monographs "Research on the Shared Growth Effect of Industrial Interaction in Tibet", "Energy Consumption and Security of Herdsmen in Nagqu in Tibet after Settlement", "60 Years of Democratic Reform in Tibet: Ecological Environment Volume" (Executive Editor-in-Chief) and "From Heavy Burden to Freedom: Changes in the Poverty Effect of Religious Consumption of Tibetan Farmers and Herdsmen".