Energy conservation and carbon reduction, walking with us - an important support for promoting green and low-carbon development

Source: China Youth Daily

The 2023 National Energy Conservation Promotion Week has arrived as scheduled, with the theme of "Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction, Let's Go Together". Initiated energy-saving initiatives, launched "low-carbon markets", and popularized low-carbon knowledge, various activities were held across the country to promote green and low-carbon concepts and advocate for green and low-carbon actions. From the venue to the square, from enterprises to communities, from government agencies to schools... everyone is a practitioner, gathering tremendous energy to promote green and low-carbon development through small actions.

Energy conservation is an important content of ecological civilization construction, an important measure to break the constraints of China's resources and environment, and an important support for promoting carbon peaking, carbon neutrality, and high-quality development. Promote the research and development, promotion and application of advanced technologies for energy conservation and carbon reduction, carry out green consumption points actions for key products, sign and issue the "Declaration on Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality in Key Industry Fields", calling on all industries to jointly promote ecological priority, conservation and intensive green and low-carbon development. These all demonstrate our country's firm determination to energy conservation and carbon reduction, as well as our unremitting efforts towards green development.

In recent years, China's energy conservation work has achieved significant results, supporting an annual economic growth rate of 6.2% with an average annual energy consumption growth rate of 3%. In the past decade, the country's energy consumption intensity has accumulated a decrease of 26.4%, making it one of the countries with the fastest reduction in global energy consumption intensity. It has exceeded the carbon emission intensity reduction target promised to the international community. On the other hand, the extreme high temperature in the summer of the past two years, as well as extreme weather such as rainstorm, flood and drought, also let us feel the impact of climate change. Energy conservation, carbon reduction and green development are related to the well-being of all mankind, not one person, one family, one country, but everyone's responsibility and obligation. We must consciously shoulder the responsibility of high-quality development and bravely become the vanguard of green and low-carbon development.

We must uphold the concept of green development, prioritize ecological civilization construction, firmly follow the path of ecological priority and green development, and implement the strategic deployment of resource conservation and environmental protection. We need to continuously deepen institutional and institutional innovation, coordinate ecological environment governance and socio-economic development, increase the "green content" of the economy, enhance the "gold content" of development, and strive to promote the formation of a new pattern of modernization construction for harmonious development between humans and nature.

We must adhere to leading the way in green and low-carbon development and set an example. Consciously engage in low-carbon clothing, low-carbon diet, low-carbon living, and low-carbon transportation, and actively fulfill one's social responsibility as an individual. Advocate for 'government agencies first', refine energy-saving measures, and guide green office work. Actively cultivate ecological culture and ecological ethics, encourage green consumption, widely promote and educate ecological civilization and green culture, guide the people to advocate thrift and low-carbon life, and form a strong cultural atmosphere of respecting the natural environment and building ecological civilization in the whole society.