CNN：乌江见证贵州的生态文明实践

7月12日，美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）发布题为《乌江不息，见证贵州的生态文明实践》（Let The River Flow）的文章，对生态文明贵阳国际论坛，及其展示的贵州生态文明建设成果表示称赞。原文如下：

贵州坚定不移走生态优先、绿色发展之路。

贵州地处中国南部山区腹地，境内自然风光神奇秀美。蜿蜒的碧波穿行在连绵的石灰岩山峰中，古色古香的幽幽老宅在村寨中参差错落，波浪般的山水梯田随着季节更迭变换着色彩，鲜活的绿色，炽热的金色，纯洁的白色，种种颜色构成了贵州的一年四季。

长江是亚洲最长的河流，作为长江的支流，乌江宛转流淌在山清水秀的贵州乡野之中。目前，乌江流域承载了贵州一半以上的人口，乌江沿岸自然资源条件得天独厚，十分适宜水果等特色产业发展，盛产蓝莓、桃子、橙子、猕猴桃和草莓。

保护好乌江的生态环境，贵州将看到更加壮美辽阔的未来发展图景。2021年2月，习近平总书记前往贵州考察，首站就来到贵州西北部的毕节市，强调贵州要“守好发展和生态两条底线”。

绿水青山

此前在2017年，习近平总书记在联合国日内瓦总部演讲时指出：“绿水青山就是金山银山。《巴黎协定》的达成是全球气候治理史上的里程碑。”据了解，中国于2016年签署《巴黎协定》。迄今为止，已有195个缔约方签署了《巴黎协定》。

作为中国唯一以生态文明为主题的国家级论坛，第11届生态文明贵阳国际论坛于7月12日在贵州的省会贵阳召开。从2009年至今，论坛已经成功举办了十届，成为贵州重要的国际名片。过去十余年中，生态文明贵阳国际论坛探讨了国际合作、可持续发展和环境保护等一系列议题。

21世纪10年代初，由于沿岸工业企业经营粗放、网箱养殖超载、污水处理滞后等原因，乌江甚至被当地一些群众称为“污江”。

为提升乌江生态治理能力，贵州深入实施可持续发展战略，坚持生态优先、绿色发展。2014年，贵州审议通过的《贵州省生态文明建设促进条例》，确立了政府、企业、公众在生态文明建设方面的基本权利和义务。为改善乌江流域水体水质，贵州全域取缔网箱养鱼，大力开展乌江磷污染治理，全面建立河长制。据悉，该制度在中国其他省份的河湖管理保护中也发挥了重要作用。

经济可持续发展

在乌江上捕了30年鱼的杨昌洪，响应国家号召退捕上岸，拿出积蓄和退捕补偿费在乌江边流转4亩地种植大棚草莓，收入颇丰。

“虽然转型的过程很痛苦，但能够让过度捕捞的乌江得到休养生息，让子孙还能看到一江清水，值得！”杨昌洪说。

如今，贵州山清水秀、风景如画，当地旅游业蓬勃发展。乌江百里画廊的美景吸引了来自全世界的游客，两岸水果、茶叶等特色产业也发展得红红火火。

最大的竞争优势

“要深学笃用习近平生态文明思想，更加牢固树立绿水青山就是金山银山理念，深入打好污染防治攻坚战，进一步统筹好山水林田湖草系统治理，努力打造青山常在、绿水长流、空气常新的美丽贵州，让优良生态环境永远成为贵州人民的‘幸福不动产’‘绿色提款机’。”中共贵州省委书记、省人大常委会主任谌贻琴说。

今年的生态文明贵阳国际论坛也将共商国内国际合作新路径，为全球生态文明建设和可持续发展等议题贡献经验。

Let The River Flow

Ecological priority is leading the charge in Guizhou’s pursuit of sustainable development.

The landscapes of Guizhou, a landlocked province in China’s mountainous south, are legendary. Limestone mountains wrapped in jungle give way to trickling streams. Heritage houses sit shoulder to shoulder in ancient villages. And swirling rice terraces cling to hills that change color with the seasons. A year in Guizhou is marked by vibrant greens, golden yellows, and pristine whites.

Meandering through these picturesque rural scenes is the Wu River, a tributary of the mighty Yangtze, Asia’s longest river. More than half of Guizhou’s ethnically diverse population live close to the river, where they take advantage of the incredibly fertile land. A kaleidoscope of fruit, including blueberries, peaches, oranges, kiwis, and strawberries, all grow in abundance thanks to the mineral-rich waters of the Wu River.

Sustaining Guizhou’s remarkable natural setting while capitalizing on its agricultural fertility is key to the province’s future. In February 2021, President Xi Jinping visited Bijie, a city in northwestern Guizhou, where he highlighted the importance of giving equal value to economic advancement and environmental protection.

Clear Waters and Green Mountains

“Clear waters and green mountains are as good as mountains of gold and silver,” said President Xi when addressing the United Nations in 2017 about the importance of implementing The Paris Agreement, which was agreed by 195 member economies, including China, the previous year. In the same spirit, the eleventh Eco Forum Global (EFG) Guiyang will take place in the capital of Guizhou in 2021.

As the only national forum on ecological development that began in 2009, the EFG has become one of Guizhou’s most important events. Over the past decade, the forum has discussed the importance of international cooperation, the implementation of sustainable development strategies, and environmental protection and conservation.

Tackling Problems Head On

In the early 2010s, rapid coastal industrial development along the Wu River, large-scale aquaculture farms, and delays in the construction of sewage treatment systems have become causes of pollution.

In overcoming this challenge, the health of the Wu River was made central and a priority for action. These discussions led to Guizhou passing laws in 2014 that would establish the basic rights and obligations of the government, private enterprise, and the public in the pursuit of healthier and more sustainable agricultural practices. As a result, to improve the water quality of the Wu River, Guizhou was able to ban unsustainable aquaculture projects, treat phosphorus pollution, and effectively implement a River Chief System (RCS). This system has been hugely successful in other parts of China.

Pivoting to A Sustainable Economy

Yang Changhong, who had worked aquaculture farms on the Wu River for 30 years, supported the state’s response and retrained as a strawberry farmer under a local scheme. He used his savings and compensation to invest in over 0.6 acres of land along the river. “The process of transformation is painful,” says Yang, who now makes a good income growing strawberries in greenhouses.

“It is important to allow the Wu River to recuperate and let future generations see clear water.”

Yang Changhong, farmer

Guizhou’s increasingly clean and definitively picturesque scenery is also helping to contribute to the province’s burgeoning tourism economy. The Wu River now attracts tourists from across China and the world, who come to enjoy the area’s panoramic vistas, colorful fruit farms, and specialty teas that grow on both sides of the river.

The Greatest Competitive Advantage

“We must deeply learn and apply Xi Jinping’s thoughts of ecological civilization, more firmly establish the concept that clear waters and green mountains are as good as mountains of gold and silver, make more efforts to wage a battle to prevent and control pollution, further coordinate a systematic management of mountains, rivers, forests, farmland, lakes and grasslands, strive to create a beautiful Guizhou with green mountains, clear waters and fresh air, making the excellent ecological environment an everlasting “happy real estate” and “green cash machine” for the people of Guizhou,” says Shen Yiqin, secretary of the Communist Party of China Guizhou Provincial Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of Guizhou Province.

This year’s EFG will discuss how to continue national and international cooperation for a better ecological environment and a brighter shared future for mankind.