With the deepening of sustainable development research, more and more knowledge has been gained in aspects mainly involving population, resources, environment, economic development and social development. Based on the people-centered development concept, that is, the purpose of development is to meet the needs of comprehensive human development. The main driving force for current and future development comes from human capital. Sustainable population development is the key to a sustainable overall situation. Sustainable development of resources is the starting point and The premise is that environmental sustainable development is the end point and goal; while economic and social sustainable development is the way and means to achieve overall sustainable development.
Combined with China's actual situation, the basic points of the sustainable development strategy of law, morality, population, resources, and environment are:
A comprehensive and moderate population theory, the implementation of which integrates population quantity control, quality Improvement and structural adjustment are integrated, and "control", "improvement" and "adjustment" are combined and mutually promoted. The current strategy focuses on quantity control;
The theory of scarce resources, the implementation of the integration of resource conservation and regeneration resources and improve resource utilization, and combine "saving", "regeneration" and "improvement". The current strategy focuses on improving resource utilization;
Ecosystem theory, implement environmental protection, improve The environment, population and environment develop harmoniously into one, and "protection", "improvement" and "harmony" mutually promote the current strategy focusing on environmental protection.
In the past 30 years, the international community has made great progress in the understanding, research and practice of sustainable development of population, resources and environment. China, as the most populous developing country, has made unremitting efforts; however, Sustainable development itself shows that it is long-term and arduous. Whether it can be realized depends on the scientific nature of policies, the correctness of strategies and tactics, and the feasibility of decision-making. Based on China's reality and combined with the theory and practice of sustainable development in the international community, this article focuses on the population perspective and proposes macro-decision-making options and reforms for the sustainable development of population, resources, and the environment.
1. Basic issues of sustainable development: population, resources, environment
Since the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was held in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, in 1972, a new concept of "continuous and sustainable development" was proposed. Since its conception, so far, it has mainly involved five fields: population, resources, environment, economic development, and social development. However, what is the position of these five in sustainable development and what is the relationship between them? Some people advocate "ecological core theory", some people propose "population center theory", and some people expound "economic determinism". It can be said that Wisdom and benevolence are not enough.
1. Resources - the starting point and conditions for sustainable development. Looking at development from the perspective of resources, all development, including sustainable development, can be attributed to material transformation, the material transformation of natural resources, the material transformation of social resources, and more importantly, the material transformation of the combination of natural resources and social resources. Therefore, there is no development without the material transformation of resources. Resources are the starting point and condition for sustainable development.
2. Population - the key to overall sustainable development. The material transformation of natural resources without human participation is natural evolution; only the material transformation with human participation and in accordance with human purposes can be called development and sustainable development. According to the explanation in the 1987 report "Our Common Future" of the United Nations Commission on Environment and Development, sustainable development is "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." We have gained greater understanding of the definition of sustainable development in terms of intergenerational relationships and established the purpose of people-oriented sustainable development. Whether development is sustainable or unsustainable is closely related to population changes, including population quantity, quality (including development awareness), and structure. Through the production activities and social activities of the population, that is, economic development and social development, resources and the environment are changed, forming a development model in a certain historical period.
3. Environment - the end point and goal of sustainable development. With the rapid expansion of population and the enhancement of people's means of material transformation, especially the environmental damage caused by the rapid development of industrialization after the Second World War, people have to reflect on their traditional development methods: what will be the consequences of such development, and the purpose of development. and what is the goal? Since the 1970s, it has been the first to propose and discuss environment and sustainable development at a series of international environmental conferences. Sustainable development was first caused by environmental issues. The environment is a warning of the results of different development methods. Sustainable development is ultimately about creating an environment that is conducive to the all-round development of people.
4. Economic development and social development - sustainable pathways and regulators. Sustainable development requires the coordination of population, resources, and environment. What coordination does it rely on? Based on economic and social development. On the one hand, the ability to materially transform existing resources and the state of the environment are the result of past economic and social development; on the other hand, the mode of resource transformation and environmental quality can also be changed through adjustments to economic and social development methods and structures, so that to develop in a direction conducive to sustainable development.
2. Sustainable population development: all-round optimal population theory and macro decision-making options
The idea of ??"optimum population" appeared very early, in the ancient Greek thinker Plato )'s "Utopia" and Aristotle's "Politics", the most perfect country is to maintain a population not exceeding a certain number; China has had a struggle between the many people and the few people as far back as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. , Han Fei proposed the view that wealth and population growth move in opposite directions. Of course, these views are far from moderate population. The real moderate population theory was proposed by the British economist Edwin Cannan in the mid-19th century, and later developed by H. Dalton, A. Sawvy and others. Human development, introduces population size, life expectancy, culture and education, health status, etc. into the study of appropriate population, and proposes theories such as the "economically appropriate population" that obtains the greatest economic benefits, and the "strength-appropriate population" that achieves the greatest strength for the country. However, from a basic standpoint, these moderate population studies are mainly limited to the quantitative aspect of the population, and domestic research is basically limited to the quantitative category. The "all-round moderate population theory" proposed by the author breaks through the boundaries of population quantity and is defined as "relative to the resources, environment, economic and social development under certain historical conditions, the quantity of the population is appropriate and the quality is steadily improved. , the structure is relatively reasonable, that is, it can promote the coordinated development of population and other development factors." Based on this definition, the basic points of the sustainable development strategy of population in today's world and in China are: continue to control the quantitative growth of the population, improve the quality of the population, adjust the population structure, and implement a combination of "control", "improvement" and "adjustment" , the current strategy focuses on quantity control.
(1) Continue to control population growth
The history of world population changes shows that the “baby boom” that ushered in after World War II set an average annual population growth rate in the 1960s The record reached 2.0%, which declined slightly in the 1970s, continued to decline in the 1980s and 1990s, and the population growth rate slowed down. However, according to the median forecast of the United Nations, the world's population will increase from 6.055 billion in 2000 to 7.824 billion in 2025, 8.909 billion in 2050, 9.459 billion in 2100, and 9.746 billion in 2150. That is to say, there will be an increase of 2.844 billion in the next half century, and the growth rate will still be relatively fast; after 2050, the growth rate will become slower, but it is still growing.
Since the 1970s, China has vigorously controlled population growth and effectively strengthened family planning. Since then, it has achieved world-renowned achievements. In 30 years, the number of births will be reduced by more than 300 million, the total fertility rate (TFR) will fall below the replacement level of 2.1, and the net reproduction rate (NRR) will fall below 1.0, entering the ranks of countries with low fertility levels.
However, the overloaded "population train" has not stopped. The United Nations median forecast will increase from 1.278 billion in 2000 to 1.454 billion in 2020, 1.504 billion in 2040, 1.478 billion in 2050, and 2100. 1.340 billion in 2015 and 1.361 billion in 2150.
Although China’s population growth trend is weaker than that of the world, zero growth will be achieved when the total population reaches 1.5-1.6 billion in the 2040s; but by then there will still be an increase of more than 200 million, which is already an overpopulation country. Generally speaking, quantity control is still a long-term task. Not only that, controlling the growth of the population and reducing future population consumption will help increase the accumulation and development of medical, health, cultural and educational undertakings; families and their children can also obtain more opportunities for further education, which is doubly beneficial to the physical, cultural and educational quality of the population. improve. Gradually changing the age structure year after year through the birth rate and the number of people born each year is the basic means to adjust the age structure such as the productive age population and the proportion of the elderly population. Urban-rural and regional distribution are subject to different fertility and birth rates, but the adjustment of these two structures is also affected by population migration and changes in mobile machinery, and mechanical changes are also directly or indirectly related to the degree of birth control between urban and rural areas and regions. Therefore, population control affects the overall situation of “controlling”, “improving” and “mobilizing” the population, and is currently the primary starting point and strategic focus of the sustainable development strategy for the overall population in China and the world.
On how to effectively control population growth, countries should be encouraged to widely exchange experiences and learn from each other. As far as China is concerned, there are mainly three issues: First, reasonably determine population control goals. It is now planned that the national population will be controlled within 1.4 billion in 2010, and zero growth will be controlled at around 1.6 billion. This seems to be possible and realistic. The above-mentioned United Nations median forecast is 1.373 billion in 2010 and will achieve zero growth when it reaches 1.542 billion in 2043, leaving some room for improvement; second, there must be reasonable policies. At present, it has been determined to stabilize the low fertility level and thus maintain the relative stability of the fertility policy, at least in the first 10 years of the 21st century. That is to encourage late marriage and late childbearing, encourage a couple to have one child, and make reasonable arrangements for the birth of a second child in accordance with laws and regulations. Ethnic minorities must also practice family planning.
Among them, "reasonable arrangements for the birth of a second child shall be made in accordance with laws and regulations." Provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities generally stipulate that if both parties are only children, they can have two children after marriage, which has become a natural transition for the sustainable development of the population; third, it is necessary to Actively explore changes in population control mechanisms. China's control of population growth mainly relies on the implementation of the basic national policy of family planning. It has accumulated a set of experience in the "three main" aspects of publicity and education, contraception and birth control, and regular work. These are mainly administrative means. Experience must continue to be used; however, we must continue to improve based on the changed situation, strengthen comprehensive management, classified guidance, and improve service levels. At the same time, the population issue is ultimately a development issue. With the deepening of market economic reform, people's concept of childbearing has changed, and the role of the cost-benefit law of children has increased the weight of interest adjustment. The pursuit of population control has shifted from administrative means to It is inevitable to shift to a mechanism that combines administrative means with interest adjustment and focuses on interest adjustment in the future.
(2) Improving the quality of population
Population refers to the residents living in a certain area as a whole, which is the unity of quantity and quality. It is generally believed that population quality includes the physical quality and cultural and educational quality of the population. Some people also advocate that the ideological and moral quality of the population should be included. As mentioned before, controlling population growth in overpopulated countries is conducive to the improvement of population quality, and the improvement of population quality, especially cultural and educational quality, is also conducive to population control. The fertility rate is inversely related to people's cultural and educational levels. trend towards change. Based on China's actual situation, the strategic choices for improving the physical quality, cultural and educational quality of the population are summarized as follows:
1. Improvement of physical fitness. The Chinese government announced that the infant mortality rate dropped to about 31‰ in 2005, and will drop to less than 30‰ in 2010; life expectancy will increase by an average of 0.2 years per year in accordance with the international general law, and may rise to 72 years in 2005 and 73 years in 2010. age. To achieve the above goals, in addition to general measures such as developing the economy, improving nutritional status, developing medical and health services, and improving health levels, the key lies in: First, vigorously improving the quality of the birth population and comprehensively developing high-quality family planning services. To this end, the National Family Planning Commission has focused on launching the "Contraception Quality Service Project" to provide safe, effective and convenient services with a focus on long-term effects; the "Birth Defect Intervention Project" to further reduce the incidence of birth defects; "Reproductive Tract Infection" Intervention Project" to promote the implementation of contraceptive and birth control measures and the improvement of maternal and child health quality. Second, we must actively develop social security and ensure the implementation of unemployment, medical, pension and family planning insurance. The third is to launch a national fitness campaign to combine the development of sports with the enhancement of people's physical fitness, and to combine popularization with improvement.
2. Improvement of the cultural and educational quality of the population. The focus is to strengthen the universalization of nine-year compulsory education in poor areas and minority areas, to basically universalize high school education in cities and rural areas where conditions permit, to achieve a gross enrollment rate of more than 90% in junior high schools, and to significantly increase the gross enrollment rate in higher education. To improve the cultural and educational quality of the population, on the one hand, we must ensure that financial investment in education and science continues to grow, which is higher than the growth rate of investment in general economic construction; on the other hand, we must vigorously promote educational reform, change the low productivity of education and labor in the "school-run society", and move towards a "Society-run schools" educate the road to continuous improvement in the labor fertility rate. In addition, we must fundamentally increase the enthusiasm of individuals and families to invest in population intelligence, appropriately tilt toward mental labor in the reform of the distribution system, and fundamentally change the situation of insufficient brain and body distribution.
(2) Adjusting the population structure
Adjusting the population structure mainly involves adjusting the population age structure, urban and rural structure and geographical distribution structure to adapt to the requirements of sustainable development.
1. Adjustment of population age structure. Demography is divided into three basic types: young, adult and elderly based on the age structure of the overall population. At present, the age structure of China's population has begun to enter the elderly type. As mentioned before, this is a necessary stage to achieve zero population growth and sustainable development. According to predictions, the proportion and median age of China's elderly population over 60 years old will increase from 10.1% and 30 years old in 2000 to 12.2% and 34.5 years old in 2010, 16.6% and 37.3 years old in 2020, and 29.7% in 2050. , 43.7 years old, will continue to rise in the first half of the 21st century. This change in the age structure of the population is clearly reflected in the “pyramid” (see Figures 5 to 9 below). The key to realizing the adjustment of the above-mentioned age structure aging process lies in the level of fertility rate control. The total (sum) fertility rate was controlled at around 1.86 from 2000 to 2010, and can be achieved by maintaining around 1.90 after 2010. That is to say, it is roughly stable at the current level or slightly higher than the current level. The Chinese government has made a timely decision to stabilize the low fertility level, which is consistent with the process of population control.
2. Adjustment of urban and rural population structure. According to the urban population data released by the state, it accounted for 30.9% of the total population in 1999. The employment structure of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries was 1.00:0.46:0.54, and the industrial structure calculated by output value was 1.00:2.80:1.87.
Compared with the international standard model of Syrquin M and H. Chenery, when per capita GDP reaches 800 US dollars, the urban population accounts for 60%, and the three-industry employment structure is 1.0:0.3:0.4. The three-industry structure Comparing the ratio of around 1.0:1.1:1.1, my country's urbanization level is seriously lagging behind. The secondary and tertiary industries in the tertiary industry employment structure are on the high side, while the second and tertiary industries in the industrial structure calculated by output value have doubled over the standard. Why does this happen? The first is the reason for the statistical caliber. Although a large number of floating people live in cities for a long time, they are still counted as "rural population" in statistics; although they have been engaged in urban industry and commerce for a long time, they are still counted as "agricultural population" in statistics. Second, the rural population has been restricted from migrating to cities for work and business for a long time, causing the urbanization level of the population to lag behind. In view of this, the author counts half of the current migrant population of about 100 million in the country as the urban population. Taking the urban population accounting for 35.8% in 2000 as the base period, and extrapolating the median annual growth rate of 3.85% in the urban population over the past 50 years, In 2005, the urban population could reach 548 million, accounting for 41.3%; in 2010, it could reach 662 million, accounting for 48.2%, which is slightly higher than the average level of developing countries at that time. To achieve this goal, we need to relax restrictions on farmers moving to cities for work and business and becoming urban residents. Currently, as long as you have a legal fixed residence, stable occupation or source of income, you can settle in a small town, and the original restriction on living in a town for more than 2 years has been removed. In addition, in terms of the population urbanization policy, in addition to actively developing small towns, the development of medium and large cities, that is, the second stage of development in which the population is concentrated from small towns to large cities, should also be started in a timely manner, otherwise it will be difficult to speed up the process and achieve urbanization. high efficiency.
3. Adjustment of regional population distribution structure. According to population density, it gradually increases from west to east and is distributed in "three major platforms": in 1999, the population density (person/km2) of 10 provinces, districts and cities in the southwest and northwest was 52.7, that of 9 provinces and districts in central China was 162.7, and that of the eastern coast was 12 For provinces, regions and cities, it is 393.1.
However, this "three major platforms" distribution is the result of the long-term development of geography, environment, natural resources, and economic and social development. Sustainable development does not require major changes. In the ongoing development strategy for the western region, what the western region lacks is not the quantity of the population, but the quality of the population, especially the high-quality talents needed for modernization. Since the reform and opening up, talents in the west have been seriously "flying to the southeast", which has brought a new shortage of human capital to the west where the cultural and educational quality of the population was originally low. The author compared natural capital, output capital, human capital, and social capital in the western region and found that natural capital is relatively strong, with land accounting for 56.9% of the country and 45 mineral resources accounting for 39.7%; the remaining three types of capital are relatively insufficient, but The poorest thing is human capital, which accounts for only 20.6% of the country's total and is the "bottleneck" restricting the development of the western region. Therefore, the development of the western region does not require a large increase in the number of people. What is needed is to improve the quality of the population and focus on the accumulation of human capital. Creating corresponding mechanisms to retain and attract talents, and developing science and education are the foundation and focus of western development and the core of sustainable development of population distribution.
3. Sustainable development of resources: Scarce resource theory and macro decision-making choices
The British classical economist Wiliam Petty has a famous saying: “Land is the source of wealth. "Mother, labor is the father of wealth", regards land and labor as resources. Today, there are dozens of definitions of resources in academic circles and practical departments. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) defines them as: so-called resources, especially natural resources. , refers to the natural environmental factors and conditions that can generate economic value under certain time and place conditions to improve the current and future welfare of mankind. The author basically agrees with this view, and on this basis defines resources as: all valuable substances in nature and human society are resources. It includes three meanings: First, resources exist not only in nature, such as land, fresh water, minerals and other natural resources; but also in human society, mainly human resources, technology, management, information and other social resources. The second is the value attribute of resources. Any resource has its own value that can be developed and utilized. The third is the material attribute of resources. Although scientists are exploring whether there are non-material and anti-matter, the unity of the existing world still lies in its materiality; some social resources, such as management, are called "invisible resources". However, this "invisibility" is either stored in people's brains, or stored in the brain's materialized form, computers, books and periodicals, and is conditional on the existence of visible material carriers. It is cited that resources can be divided into two categories: natural resources and social resources. Natural resources can be divided into three types: renewable resources, non-renewable resources and constant resources. Solar energy, wind energy, and tidal energy are basically constant, but this constancy also has a certain relative nature. Regenerative resources such as land and forests can be reused and can be recovered and regenerated through artificial repair and construction; however, if the regeneration rate cannot keep up with the needs of population growth and economic growth, resource shortages will occur. As for the non-renewable resources of various metals and non-metal minerals, they are used up a little bit, and generally cannot be recovered or regenerated, so they are in a state of absolute shortage. Therefore, in general, resources are scarce, and sustainable development must be based on scarce resources.
The extent to which resources are scarce is closely related to changes in population and increases in consumption levels. As mentioned above, the world's population has grown fabulously after the industrial revolution and is still in the ascendant in the 21st century. It has increased from 500 million to nearly 9 billion in the 400 years from 1650 to 2050, an increase of 17 times. Even if doubled by simple arithmetic, The increase in resource consumption is also considerable. In fact, this is far from the case. The increase in population consumption of resources comes not only from the increase in the absolute number of people, but also from the increase in consumption per person, which shows a strong "weighted effect" in the process of decreasing per capita resources. In an agricultural society, due to underdeveloped social productivity, production expansion is restricted, and the production scale and structure of consumption resources are restricted. Entering an industrialized society breaks through many restrictions. Driven by people's pursuit of high quality of life, the huge growth and rapid replacement of consumer materials, especially a variety of durable consumer goods, has greatly increased the per capita consumption of resources. Population, as the denominator, shows a strong influence on resource consumption. "Weighting effect". A statistics from the United Nations shows that from 1960 to 1985, the world's population increased from 3 billion to 4.8 billion, an increase of 60%; during the same period, world energy consumption increased by 130%. The main reason for doubling the population growth is the "weighted effect" of the 45% increase in per capita energy consumption. With economic development and people's desire to pursue a high quality of life, the "weighted effect" of population as the denominator on resource consumption in the 21st century is increasing. In particular, the accelerated urbanization of the population has escalated this "weighted effect" and intensified resource shortages. Many places have issued "yellow card warnings."
China is known throughout the world for its "vast land and abundant resources". It has relatively abundant natural resources with a relatively complete variety. It is one of the few countries that can basically rely on its own resources to establish a relatively complete national economic system. At the same time, it is also a developing country with a "large population" and rapid growth. The "weighted effect" of population growth on resource consumption is also quite obvious. Therefore, the absolute quantity of certain important resources is often among the best in the world, but the per capita possession is far behind. For example, the total amount of potentially valuable mineral resources ranks third in the world, but the per capita possession is only equivalent to 1/2 of the world average. The per capita possession of pasture, cultivated land, and forest resources is also only 1/2 of the world average. 2, 1/3, 1/6, from a "big resource country" in total to a "small resource country" in per capita terms. As population growth and resource consumption increase, the scarcity of overall resources has intensified, and there is a serious shortage of arable land, fresh water and other resources, which restricts sustainable development. Therefore, for China, controlling population growth is a fundamental strategic move and one of the root causes of resource shortages. Just don’t forget that this is the external effect of reducing resource shortages. Solving resource shortages must also be found from the internal effects of resource development and utilization itself.
Deng Xiaoping, the chief architect of reform and opening up, once said a famous saying: "Development is the last word." If China wants to develop, it cannot accept the teachings of some Westerners about "low growth" and "zero growth." China has set the economic growth rate in the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" at around 7%. So in the face of the objective situation of increasing pressure on the environment from population growth and rapid economic growth, how to find a sustainable path for resources? Based on the existing research results, there are no more than three "prescriptions": One is to protect resources. That is to say, the existing resources, mainly natural resources, should be protected, and resources should not be damaged by indiscriminate cultivation, deforestation, or excavation. The second is to improve regeneration capacity. Strengthen the maintenance of renewable resources, expand the scale of regeneration and improve the quality of regeneration, especially the regeneration of cultivated land, forests and pastures. The third is to improve resource utilization. Including saving resources, developing alternative resources, and reducing natural capital consumption per unit output value. There is no doubt that the three "prescriptions" are indispensable, but the author believes that the three are not equal. We must face the reality that China will accelerate social and economic development in the 21st century, first of all at the beginning of the 21st century, and development is the material transformation of resources. To cope with the increase in resource consumption, the strategic focus should be to improve resource utilization and take a resource-saving development path. This is mainly: establishing an industrial structure that conserves and intensifies resources, including an agricultural industrial structure that conserves and intensively uses water, land, and biological resources; an industrial structure that conserves and comprehensively utilizes water, energy, mineral resources, etc.; conserves and intensifies The three industrial structures, consumption structures, technological structures, urban and rural structures, foreign trade structures and social structures of the national economy that operate using renewable and non-renewable resources will maximize resource utilization and combine social and economic development.
4. Environmentally Sustainable Development: Ecosystem Theory and Macro Decision-making Choices
The earth’s atmosphere below 15 kilometers and the crust within 11 kilometers are the environment for the survival and activities of humans and other animals and plants. The basic field, which is also the basic category in which we talk about the environment, is defined as the biosphere. The number of green plant producers, consumers, and decomposers in the biosphere maintains a certain proportion, forming a certain biological chain and maintaining ecological balance. Before the birth of humans, the biosphere maintained a good cycle; from the birth of humans to agricultural society, the ecological balance was basically maintained in a good state.
After the industrial revolution, with the rapid growth of population and the development of social productivity, the incomparable enhancement of human means of "conquering nature", the rapid advancement of urbanization, and the results of comprehensive intervention in the production, consumption, decomposition and restoration of the biosphere, From a human perspective, it has achieved an unparalleled victory. From a natural perspective, it has suffered increasingly serious damage, a kind of retaliatory damage to human intervention. Pursuing sustainable development of the environment means eradicating this kind of "defeating nature" damage, keeping the biological chain undamaged, correcting the position of humans and human activities in nature, and maintaining the balance of the ecosystem.
As the most populous developing country, China will inevitably bring about many environmental problems as its population grows and industrialization accelerates. It is commendable that environmental protection has been listed as the second basic national policy after controlling population growth. On the one hand, it has strengthened publicity and education to enhance people's environmental awareness; on the other hand, it has increased investment and intensified environmental governance. With the rapid growth of the national economy, We have controlled the worsening trend of environmental pollution and achieved remarkable results in environmental protection. At the same time, environmental problems have also seen some new changes and characteristics in recent years: First, industrial pollution and urban life pollution have intensified. For example, the discharge of industrial wastewater from industrial enterprises above the county level nationwide decreased from 22,189.43 million tons in 1995 to 17,123.55 million tons in 1998 and 16,076.78 million tons in 1999; the discharge of industrial sulfur dioxide decreased from 14.05 million tons to 12.1 million tons and 10.78 million tons respectively. ; Industrial dust emissions decreased from 6.39 million tons to 5.06 million tons and 4.58 million tons; industrial solid waste generation increased and decreased, with little change. Generally speaking, the industrial “three wastes” have decreased; the application of agricultural fertilizers and certain pesticides has continued to increase, worsening pollution; the amount of urban domestic garbage transportation and sewage discharge have also increased rapidly, and more than half of the cities have been “garbage surrounded by mountains" and sewage "moats". Second, pollution has gradually expanded from industrial point sources to non-point sources. Before the 1990s, industrial pollution sources were mainly industrial and mining enterprises, scattered throughout the country; now with the advancement of industrialization and the development of township enterprises, various pesticides are widely used in agricultural production, landscaping, and family life, and automobile exhaust and Non-point source pollution is expanding due to the intensification of plastic white pollution. Third, with the expansion of environmental damage, it has developed to endanger ecological balance. It mainly refers to water and soil erosion caused by deforestation, conversion of livestock to agriculture, and lake reclamation. Flood and drought disasters are serious. Especially the two "mother rivers" of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River are worrying, causing varying degrees of damage to the ecological average of the vast river basin area. .
Faced with the above severe situation, seeking sustainable development of China's environment requires combining environmental protection, environmental improvement, and harmonious development of population and environment, and implementing the integration of "protection", "improvement" and "harmony" In one, the current strategy is to protect the environment. These aspects are mutually reinforcing, and due to China's large population and vast territory, uneven development, it can achieve harmonious development of population and environment, that is, the population is stable and the environmental quality is good, as done in some ecological model experimental areas After all, they are a minority; the overall population is currently growing, the environment has been damaged to varying degrees, and "harmony" will take time. Environmental improvement is being carried out across the country. The middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River are being returned to forests, grasslands and lakes with state subsidies. The treatment of small watersheds in the Yellow River and urban pollution control are also carried out on different scales. Many have achieved remarkable results, and all require Continue to persist and expand on the results achieved. But don’t forget: First, in the 21st century, China will continue to carry out large-scale economic construction, especially in the relatively backward central and western regions, implement the Western Development Strategy, activate the natural capital of the western region by injecting capital, technology, talents and other social capital, and protect the western region. The environment is the first problem that must be solved in large-scale development. The ecological system in the west is fragile, the northwest is arid and rainless, and desertification is serious; the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau in the southwest are barren and desertified, and must be strictly protected. Although the eastern region must increase efforts to manage and improve the environment, it must first protect the existing environment from major damage and prevent new and greater damage from the advancement of industrialization and urbanization. Second, the population continues to grow, and it is quite difficult to control the declining trend of environmental quality under increasing population pressure. Faced with this reality, the top priority is to prevent the environment from deteriorating and maintain the current level of environmental quality. Secondly, according to the level of economic and social development and the capabilities provided, governance should be carried out in a planned and focused manner to improve and enhance environmental quality, and gradually realize the harmonious development of population and environment.