Accelerate Shanghai's exploration of green lifestyle reform

The Central Economic Work Conference held a few days ago put forward the idea of "establishing first and then breaking", showing the urgent requirements for the transformation of new and old drivers of economic and social development and high-quality development. As the economic center of China, Shanghai has "established" some reform and exploration in terms of green lifestyle, and "broken" some links with high energy consumption and low efficiency, which has played a good demonstration role for all parts of the country.

First, we need to speed up the governance of human settlements and the construction of livable cities. A good living environment is an important part of the construction of a livable city, and it is also a direct embodiment of the green lifestyle of residents. Human settlements governance is to build a nature-respecting, green and low-carbon lifestyle, build a livable, resilient and smart city, build a better life and spiritual home, provide solid support for high-quality economic and social development, and better promote people-centered Chinese-style modernization. In recent years, Shanghai has taken the governance and improvement of human settlements as the top priority of ecological governance and environmental protection, and has taken multiple measures to promote the governance of urban and rural human settlements.

Specifically, the first is to pay attention to the management of domestic waste, and form a whole-process management chain of domestic waste from source reduction to end disposal and resource utilization. In the four years since the implementation of the Shanghai Municipal Household Waste Management Regulations in 2019, Shanghai's domestic waste has been fully harmless, and various innovative practices have been emerging, with a recycling rate of up to 42% and zero landfill of primary domestic waste. The second is to take sewage discharge and treatment as an important aspect of water pollution prevention and water resources management, so that drainage management can provide support for the sustainable and high-quality development of the economy and society. Shanghai focuses on improving the drainage system and technological innovation in wastewater treatment to improve the efficiency of wastewater discharge and treatment, such as promoting the digitalization of the drainage network and the introduction of sludge treatment facilities in sewage treatment plants to convert sludge into fuel. The third is to continue to optimize air quality and improve the ecological quality of cities. In 2022, the proportion of days with good ambient air quality (AQI) in Shanghai was 87.1%, with no heavy pollution days. There are 273 assessment sections in the city, of which 95.6% are excellent Class III sections, and there are no Class V. and inferior Class V. sections. Fourth, we should vigorously support the improvement of the rural living environment and make up for the shortcomings of the urban and rural living environment governance. Shanghai pays attention to all aspects of the rural living environment, and has introduced specific action plans in various links such as upgrading rural roads, classified management of rural domestic waste, rural "toilet revolution", and improving the standard and efficiency of domestic sewage treatment, so as to effectively improve the living environment of rural residents.

Second, continue to promote the construction of parks and green spaces. The construction of parks and green spaces plays an extremely important role in shaping the green and low-carbon production and lifestyle of cities. The construction of parks and green spaces provides residents with a more livable living environment by creating green leisure places, improving air quality, promoting ecological balance, smoothing low-carbon travel modes, and promoting environmental education, and also makes positive contributions to the sustainable development and ecological protection of the city. Shanghai is China's economic, cultural and scientific and technological center, as early as the 90s of the last century began the construction of urban greening, in recent years, with the active efforts of the Shanghai Municipal Government and relevant departments, the construction of Shanghai parks and green space has made great progress, as the country's most "green" city has always led the country.

On the one hand, the construction of parks and green spaces provides residents with natural leisure space, which is conducive to improving air quality, alleviating the urban heat island effect, and protecting biodiversity, and on the other hand, it is conducive to enhancing people's awareness of environmental protection, guiding residents to form a more environmentally friendly, energy-saving and sustainable lifestyle, promoting low-carbon development, creating green cities, and evolving towards building ecologically livable green and low-carbon cities. A high-quality ecological environment directly affects the physical and mental health of residents and is the basic guarantee for improving people's livelihood and well-being. The good natural environment and urban parks and green spaces provide residents with healthy and high-quality work, living and leisure space, which greatly improves the living conditions of residents and enhances their sense of well-being.

Third, actively advocate and promote green buildings. In recent years, the carbon emissions of the whole life cycle of the construction industry account for more than half of China's total carbon emissions. As a leading city in low-carbon development in China, Shanghai has vigorously promoted the green transformation of the construction sector, and achieved positive results in promoting the development of green buildings by improving the top-level design and improving the policy system, and by the end of 2022, Shanghai's ultra-low energy consumption construction area reached 10.3 million square meters, ranking first in the country.

Shanghai's specific policies to accelerate the development of the green building industry include the following four aspects. The first is to introduce fiscal and tax policies to support the green transformation of the construction industry and provide financial support for the high-quality development of green buildings. Through a series of policies and regulations, Shanghai has supported projects that are conducive to the development of green buildings such as green building demonstration projects, prefabricated integral building demonstration projects, and existing building energy-saving renovation demonstration projects through the city's special funds for energy conservation and emission reduction. The second is to strengthen the construction of relevant standards and evaluation systems for green buildings, so as to provide reference for the evaluation and evaluation of green buildings. Shanghai promulgated and revised the "Green Building Evaluation Standards", which made a detailed description of the evaluation standards for green buildings from many aspects such as basic regulations, safety and durability, health and comfort, resource conservation, and environmental livability, and became the first local evaluation standard after the release of the national green building evaluation standards. In terms of new buildings, Shanghai strictly stipulates that 100% of new buildings must meet green building standards, and new projects must fully meet green building design requirements in the overall design and construction drawing design stages. The third is to pay attention to all aspects of the development of green buildings, and continue to support green energy conservation and carbon reduction in all aspects and life cycles of buildings. Shanghai provides specific action guidelines for the development of green buildings from the promotion of green and low-carbon building materials, the promotion of low-energy building projects, the application of renewable energy, and the energy-saving renovation of existing public buildings. The fourth is to set a benchmark and provide a demonstration for the development of green buildings in the city through the construction of demonstration projects. We will launch the evaluation of green and low-carbon transformation projects in the construction sector, reward and support outstanding projects, and carry out the assessment of green eco-urban areas.

Shanghai is densely populated and industrially developed, and a large amount of energy consumption and carbon emissions have a serious impact on people's living environment. In order to actively respond to the "double carbon" action and build and promote a green and low-carbon lifestyle, Shanghai has vigorously developed green buildings, supported the construction of parks and green spaces, strengthened the governance of human settlements, etc., and carried out exploration and practice through measures such as improving top-level design, improving policy systems, and innovating action mechanisms, and promoted the formation of a multi-level and diversified green life development model, and made positive efforts and contributions to building a green city suitable for living, working and traveling, which is worthy of learning from all parts of the countrypracticeReference.

(The author is a special researcher at the Shanghai Research Institute and an associate researcher at the Institute of Financial and Economic Strategy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)