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X. Zhang
prominent relation between man and nature, development and protection; (2) the new
round of technological revolution and the relation between man and technology; and
(3) the relation between an established major power and an emerging one.
Obviously the UN 2030 Agenda and Paris Agreement—two milestone resolutions
for human development—are not enough to cope with the three major contradictions
of the twenty-first century.
This paper has expounded that ecological civilization is the ultimate way to resolve
the contradiction between man and nature, development and protection. One more
point will be emphasized here—according to the research reports issued by the UN
and many other scientific institutions, it will be difficult to keep global temperature
rise within 2 °C by the middle of twenty-first century, let alone 1.5 °C with the
current global governance approach. If we cannot effectively curb the deterioration
of earth’s ecosystem and the loss of biodiversity, and if mankind has truly entered
the “sixth period of extinction of species” with the sea level continuously rising, as
many research reports indicate … should such trend continue, particularly as many
western politicians always transfer their own ecological problems to other countries
and fool their own people with populism, the human society will inevitably face a
catastrophe imposed by nature. This knowledge will force the mankind to become
ecologically conscious, restrain themselves, join hands in earnestly implementing
the 2030 Agenda and Paris Agreement, and opt for a future of ecological civilization.
As mentioned earlier, the new civilization form will be driven by a new round of
technological revolution, while the relation between man and technology should trace
back to the ecological morality, ethics and values discussed earlier in this paper. Only
the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan stressed by ecological civilization and the imperative
ethics and morality can more clearly define and guide the relation between man and
technology. In other words, man will eventually control technology rather than be
alienated, engulfed or destroyed by it. AI, stem cell, trans-genetics technology or
gene duplication—moral and ethic issues have to be addressed in the development
of these technologies, and only the values of ecological civilization can lead us to
find the solution. That’s why we need to stress the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan.
How do we handle the third major relation—the relation between an established
major power and an emerging one then? By revealing and analyzing objective natural
laws, ecological civilization has discerned one of the most important characteristics
of the universe and its species—ecosystem pluralism and biodiversity. The world is
a community where all creatures depend on and act on each other, which naturally
gives rise to diversity and pluralism. The “Thucydides’s trap” initiated by Professor
Graham Allison was still confined in the framework of agricultural and commercial
civilization and still continued the latter’s logic, no wonder he came to the conclusion
that a powerful country is bound to pursue hegemony, and an established major power
and an emerging one are bound to have a war, after which the world will enter a new
cycle of uni-polar domination. In contrast, ecological civilization reveals the law
that all creatures grow together without harming each other and all paths develop in
parallel without contradicting each other, thus giving rise to a world of multi-polar
governance. As a matter of fact, early signs of a multi-polar world of joint governance
have already appeared although only 20 years past the twenty-first century. The
X. Zhang
prominent relation between man and nature, development and protection; (2) the new
round of technological revolution and the relation between man and technology; and
(3) the relation between an established major power and an emerging one.
Obviously the UN 2030 Agenda and Paris Agreement—two milestone resolutions
for human development—are not enough to cope with the three major contradictions
of the twenty-first century.
This paper has expounded that ecological civilization is the ultimate way to resolve
the contradiction between man and nature, development and protection. One more
point will be emphasized here—according to the research reports issued by the UN
and many other scientific institutions, it will be difficult to keep global temperature
rise within 2 °C by the middle of twenty-first century, let alone 1.5 °C with the
current global governance approach. If we cannot effectively curb the deterioration
of earth’s ecosystem and the loss of biodiversity, and if mankind has truly entered
the “sixth period of extinction of species” with the sea level continuously rising, as
many research reports indicate … should such trend continue, particularly as many
western politicians always transfer their own ecological problems to other countries
and fool their own people with populism, the human society will inevitably face a
catastrophe imposed by nature. This knowledge will force the mankind to become
ecologically conscious, restrain themselves, join hands in earnestly implementing
the 2030 Agenda and Paris Agreement, and opt for a future of ecological civilization.
As mentioned earlier, the new civilization form will be driven by a new round of
technological revolution, while the relation between man and technology should trace
back to the ecological morality, ethics and values discussed earlier in this paper. Only
the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan stressed by ecological civilization and the imperative
ethics and morality can more clearly define and guide the relation between man and
technology. In other words, man will eventually control technology rather than be
alienated, engulfed or destroyed by it. AI, stem cell, trans-genetics technology or
gene duplication—moral and ethic issues have to be addressed in the development
of these technologies, and only the values of ecological civilization can lead us to
find the solution. That’s why we need to stress the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan.
How do we handle the third major relation—the relation between an established
major power and an emerging one then? By revealing and analyzing objective natural
laws, ecological civilization has discerned one of the most important characteristics
of the universe and its species—ecosystem pluralism and biodiversity. The world is
a community where all creatures depend on and act on each other, which naturally
gives rise to diversity and pluralism. The “Thucydides’s trap” initiated by Professor
Graham Allison was still confined in the framework of agricultural and commercial
civilization and still continued the latter’s logic, no wonder he came to the conclusion
that a powerful country is bound to pursue hegemony, and an established major power
and an emerging one are bound to have a war, after which the world will enter a new
cycle of uni-polar domination. In contrast, ecological civilization reveals the law
that all creatures grow together without harming each other and all paths develop in
parallel without contradicting each other, thus giving rise to a world of multi-polar
governance. As a matter of fact, early signs of a multi-polar world of joint governance
have already appeared although only 20 years past the twenty-first century. The