On the Value Implications of the Outlook on Sustainable …
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development of the new area. “The highest standard of our future life is a pristine
environment with blue skies, clear water, and lush trees. Xiongan New Area has a
solid foundation and is stepping up efforts in this regard, set to be more livable in
the future. By providing a pristine environment, it can realize value and build a good
image, making itself a more appealing place,” he said.
2 The Outlook on Sustainable Development is a New Vision
that Enables Value Realization While Taking
into Account Diverse Demands
As a new vision that propels the fundamental changes in the way to realize value, the
outlook on sustainable development is established on the basic laws governing the
dialectical movement of natural organisms and social organisms that are composed
of various value relations. It involves a variety of values and seeks sustainable unity
of ecological value and human value, ecological justice and social justice, economic
wellbeing and ecological wellbeing, as well as ecological rights and economic rights.
At the core of sustainable development is the relation between human and nature.
Nature is the precondition and basis for the survival and development of humans, who
depend on the natural environment and create value for both themselves and nature
through practical activities to transform the natural environment. It can be said that
human and nature can achieve sustainable development through the materialization
of their reciprocal relations. Therefore, the sustainable realization of ecological value
and human value is a kind of value relation that must be taken into account when
it comes to sustainable development. A mutually enhancing relationship between
human value and ecological value is both the goal and a measure of sustainable
development. People are the most important productive force, a type of value that
creates value, and the source of value that promotes the generation and development
of all types of value. Hence, development must be people-oriented; that is to say,
it must center on the realization of human value. However, human value cannot
be created and realized independently; instead, it is realized in the interaction with
nature. In that process, due consideration must be given to the value of the natural
environment on which humans depend for their survival and development. If the value
of the natural environment is underestimated, overlooked, or ignored, human value
will become something of an abstraction and nothingness; conversely, if ecological
value is overemphasized while human value is ignored, humans will lose their status
as value creator for sustainable development, and the ultimate significance of value
acquisition will thus fall apart.
Xi Jinping noted, “A civilization may thrive if its natural surroundings thrive, and
will suffer if its natural surroundings suffer.” This speaks to the intrinsic connection
between the natural environment and civilization and between ecological value and
human value. When a civilization and its natural surroundings thrive, both human
value and ecological value are realized; when a civilization suffers because of its
241
development of the new area. “The highest standard of our future life is a pristine
environment with blue skies, clear water, and lush trees. Xiongan New Area has a
solid foundation and is stepping up efforts in this regard, set to be more livable in
the future. By providing a pristine environment, it can realize value and build a good
image, making itself a more appealing place,” he said.
2 The Outlook on Sustainable Development is a New Vision
that Enables Value Realization While Taking
into Account Diverse Demands
As a new vision that propels the fundamental changes in the way to realize value, the
outlook on sustainable development is established on the basic laws governing the
dialectical movement of natural organisms and social organisms that are composed
of various value relations. It involves a variety of values and seeks sustainable unity
of ecological value and human value, ecological justice and social justice, economic
wellbeing and ecological wellbeing, as well as ecological rights and economic rights.
At the core of sustainable development is the relation between human and nature.
Nature is the precondition and basis for the survival and development of humans, who
depend on the natural environment and create value for both themselves and nature
through practical activities to transform the natural environment. It can be said that
human and nature can achieve sustainable development through the materialization
of their reciprocal relations. Therefore, the sustainable realization of ecological value
and human value is a kind of value relation that must be taken into account when
it comes to sustainable development. A mutually enhancing relationship between
human value and ecological value is both the goal and a measure of sustainable
development. People are the most important productive force, a type of value that
creates value, and the source of value that promotes the generation and development
of all types of value. Hence, development must be people-oriented; that is to say,
it must center on the realization of human value. However, human value cannot
be created and realized independently; instead, it is realized in the interaction with
nature. In that process, due consideration must be given to the value of the natural
environment on which humans depend for their survival and development. If the value
of the natural environment is underestimated, overlooked, or ignored, human value
will become something of an abstraction and nothingness; conversely, if ecological
value is overemphasized while human value is ignored, humans will lose their status
as value creator for sustainable development, and the ultimate significance of value
acquisition will thus fall apart.
Xi Jinping noted, “A civilization may thrive if its natural surroundings thrive, and
will suffer if its natural surroundings suffer.” This speaks to the intrinsic connection
between the natural environment and civilization and between ecological value and
human value. When a civilization and its natural surroundings thrive, both human
value and ecological value are realized; when a civilization suffers because of its
