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D. Zhu
achievements and ideas can be summarized in three dimensions: object, process,
and subject. Interpreting ecological civilization with them can dispel fallacies of
ecological civilization construction, provide new theoretical insights for advancing
ecological civilization, and enhance China’s power of speech in disseminating its
theory of ecological civilization internationally.
(1) The object dimension: Sustainable development requires the decoupling of
human progress from environmental pressures. In 2009, scientists published
a paper on Nature that proposed planetary boundaries and proved that the
scale of economic and social development is constrained by the earth. This
finding suggested that the essence of sustainable development is the pursuit of
social and economic prosperity within the constraining boundaries of natural
capital, and the goal is to achieve absolute decoupling of economic and social
development from resource and environmental pressures. Such decoupling can
be divided into two aspects: one is the decoupling of economic growth from
environmental pressure, namely improving resource productivity; the other is
the decoupling of social welfare from economic growth, namely improving
the efficiency of economic services. Over the past four decades, China has
made considerable progress in dealing with resource productivity between the
economy and environment. We need to make corresponding progress in the
efficiency of services between the economy and society.
From the object perspective, ecological civilization includes two aspects: the environment and development, as well as ecology and civilization. Neither the resource
and environmental protection without improved economic and social civilization nor
the economic and social development without resource and environmental protection can be regarded as ecological civilization. The common myth is that people
often see ecological civilization as the fusion of resource and environmental protection and economic and social progress, thus leading to the understanding or practice of seeking civilization without conserving ecology or vice versa—the former is
represented by GDP-oriented economic growth, whereas the latter by the idea that
ecological civilization is environmental protection. For example, regions with relatively underdeveloped economies often claim to be or are considered as the areas of
good ecological civilization. In fact, when evaluating developing regions from the
perspective of ecological civilization, we should examine whether their ecological
environment promotes economic and social development; by the same token, when
measuring developed regions, we should see that whether their economic and social
development comes with a good environment with bountiful resources.
(2) The process dimension: Sustainable development requires the change of the
whole causal chain process. Although it stems from resource and environmental
problems, the solution should go beyond resource and environmental problems. From the perspective of causality, there are four different ways of interpreting human understanding and the evolution of the relationship among the
economy, society and environment. First, the growth model. The environment
is deemed as an insignificant subsystem of the economy and society, which was
D. Zhu
achievements and ideas can be summarized in three dimensions: object, process,
and subject. Interpreting ecological civilization with them can dispel fallacies of
ecological civilization construction, provide new theoretical insights for advancing
ecological civilization, and enhance China’s power of speech in disseminating its
theory of ecological civilization internationally.
(1) The object dimension: Sustainable development requires the decoupling of
human progress from environmental pressures. In 2009, scientists published
a paper on Nature that proposed planetary boundaries and proved that the
scale of economic and social development is constrained by the earth. This
finding suggested that the essence of sustainable development is the pursuit of
social and economic prosperity within the constraining boundaries of natural
capital, and the goal is to achieve absolute decoupling of economic and social
development from resource and environmental pressures. Such decoupling can
be divided into two aspects: one is the decoupling of economic growth from
environmental pressure, namely improving resource productivity; the other is
the decoupling of social welfare from economic growth, namely improving
the efficiency of economic services. Over the past four decades, China has
made considerable progress in dealing with resource productivity between the
economy and environment. We need to make corresponding progress in the
efficiency of services between the economy and society.
From the object perspective, ecological civilization includes two aspects: the environment and development, as well as ecology and civilization. Neither the resource
and environmental protection without improved economic and social civilization nor
the economic and social development without resource and environmental protection can be regarded as ecological civilization. The common myth is that people
often see ecological civilization as the fusion of resource and environmental protection and economic and social progress, thus leading to the understanding or practice of seeking civilization without conserving ecology or vice versa—the former is
represented by GDP-oriented economic growth, whereas the latter by the idea that
ecological civilization is environmental protection. For example, regions with relatively underdeveloped economies often claim to be or are considered as the areas of
good ecological civilization. In fact, when evaluating developing regions from the
perspective of ecological civilization, we should examine whether their ecological
environment promotes economic and social development; by the same token, when
measuring developed regions, we should see that whether their economic and social
development comes with a good environment with bountiful resources.
(2) The process dimension: Sustainable development requires the change of the
whole causal chain process. Although it stems from resource and environmental
problems, the solution should go beyond resource and environmental problems. From the perspective of causality, there are four different ways of interpreting human understanding and the evolution of the relationship among the
economy, society and environment. First, the growth model. The environment
is deemed as an insignificant subsystem of the economy and society, which was