Xizang continues to prioritize eco-environmental conservation: white paper

The State Council Information Office issued a white paper on Friday, highlighting southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region's ongoing commitment to becoming a national and global model for advancing eco-civilization. The region remains steadfast in prioritizing eco-environmental conservation, taking a comprehensive approach to balance conservation and development while striving for green and sustainable progress.

Protecting the natural environment in Xizang will benefit the country and the people for thousands of years to come, said the white paper titled "CPC Policies on the Governance of Xizang in the New Era: Approach and Achievements."

It will continue to deliver eco-environmental dividends while building a beautiful Xizang, according to the white paper.

Xizang Autonomous Region boasts 47 nature reserves of different types at all levels, which cover a total area of 412,200 square kilometers, said the white paper.

According to the second national survey on terrestrial animals and plants in China, the number of Tibetan antelopes increased from over 70,000 in the 1990s to over 300,000, the white paper said.

Since 2016, the proportion of days with excellent or good air quality in the autonomous region has reached over 99 percent each year, it noted.

The air quality in main towns and cities has, on the whole, remained excellent or good, and the concentrations of six pollutants in seven prefecture-level administrative units have reached the state Grade-II standards or above. The air quality in the Mount Qomolangma area continues to be rated as excellent or good, reaching the state Grade-I standards, according to the white paper.

In 2022, Lhasa ranked first among the 168 key cities in China in terms of air quality, and Nyingchi and Qamdo both enjoyed excellent air quality all year round, it said.

Xizang has accelerated the building of a national clean energy base, and clean energy now makes up nearly 90 percent of the installed power generation capacity. It has thus contributed to China's targets for peaking carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality, said the white paper.

The white paper underscores the region's commitment to continually enhancing its eco-environmental governance system. 

A series of policies, regulations and statutes have been promulgated and implemented, including the Plan on Eco-environmental Protection and Sustainable Development on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, the Law of the People's Republic of China on Ecological Conservation on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, and Regulations on Developing National Eco-civilization Model in the Xizang Autonomous Region, it noted.

Xizang follows a holistic approach to the integrated conservation and systematic management of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, deserts and glaciers. A responsibility system has been introduced by which the responsibility for protecting rivers, lakes, forests and grasslands is assigned to specific persons with the title of chiefs, said the white paper.

Great progress has been registered in scientific surveys and technological breakthroughs on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, said the white paper.

The central government has launched the second comprehensive scientific survey on water, the eco-environment, and human activities on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, and conducted a thorough analysis of local environmental changes and their mechanisms, the white paper said.

This has generated a number of original theories in international frontier fields of geoscience and life sciences and substantially increased knowledge about the plateau, it said.

An eco-environmental conservation and compensation mechanism has been put in place in the region that covers forest, wetland, grassland, and water ecosystems, as stated in the white paper.

(Cover image via VCG)