Ecological Civilization is Not Equal
to Green Industrial Civilization
Yongsheng Zhang
The industrial civilization doubtlessly represents huge progress of mankind, but as
traditional industrial mode is unsustainable, ecological civilization has become the
only choice to achieve sustainable development. When we discuss ecological civilization, one typical thinking is to equate it with green industrial civilization, which
hopes to resolve environmental problems through technological progress under the
traditional industrial mode (Hallegatte et al. 2012; UNEP 2011; Acemoglu et al.
2012). As a matter of fact, non-sustainability is the inherent limitation of traditional
industrial mode. Despite the significance of green technological progress and higher
efficiency, they cannot fundamentally solve the sustainability issue. Therefore, we
have to think out of the framework of green industrial civilization, and push for the
fundamental change of development pattern according to the internal requirements of
ecological civilization. This paper has no intention to make a comprehensive discussion of the mega concept of “civilization,” but will only, from the economics point
of view, reveal the internal logic and implications of the respective economic mode
that underpins ecological civilization and industrial civilization.
1 The Reason Why Cannot Traditional Industrial Mode
Sustain
1. Mass industrial production entails mass consumption
When it comes to what to produce and how to produce, the traditional industrial
logic has the following intrinsic characteristics. First, production focuses on material
wealth and the values created are to meet people’s material needs, which, however,
only represent part of their diverse needs. Second, mass production is carried out
Y. Zhang (B)
Development Research Center of the State Council, Beijing, China
© China Environment Publishing Group Co., Ltd. 2021
J. Pan et al. (eds.), Beautiful China: 70 Years Since 1949 and 70 People’s Views
on Eco-civilization Construction, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6742-5_50
509
to Green Industrial Civilization
Yongsheng Zhang
The industrial civilization doubtlessly represents huge progress of mankind, but as
traditional industrial mode is unsustainable, ecological civilization has become the
only choice to achieve sustainable development. When we discuss ecological civilization, one typical thinking is to equate it with green industrial civilization, which
hopes to resolve environmental problems through technological progress under the
traditional industrial mode (Hallegatte et al. 2012; UNEP 2011; Acemoglu et al.
2012). As a matter of fact, non-sustainability is the inherent limitation of traditional
industrial mode. Despite the significance of green technological progress and higher
efficiency, they cannot fundamentally solve the sustainability issue. Therefore, we
have to think out of the framework of green industrial civilization, and push for the
fundamental change of development pattern according to the internal requirements of
ecological civilization. This paper has no intention to make a comprehensive discussion of the mega concept of “civilization,” but will only, from the economics point
of view, reveal the internal logic and implications of the respective economic mode
that underpins ecological civilization and industrial civilization.
1 The Reason Why Cannot Traditional Industrial Mode
Sustain
1. Mass industrial production entails mass consumption
When it comes to what to produce and how to produce, the traditional industrial
logic has the following intrinsic characteristics. First, production focuses on material
wealth and the values created are to meet people’s material needs, which, however,
only represent part of their diverse needs. Second, mass production is carried out
Y. Zhang (B)
Development Research Center of the State Council, Beijing, China
© China Environment Publishing Group Co., Ltd. 2021
J. Pan et al. (eds.), Beautiful China: 70 Years Since 1949 and 70 People’s Views
on Eco-civilization Construction, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6742-5_50
509