Culture as a Vehicle to Usher in the New Era of Ecological Progress Address Delivered at the Eco Forum Global Annual Conference 2016

Luo Shugang, Minister of Culture

 

 

Personal resume

Mr. Luo Shugang was born in Nangong, Hebei Province. He holds a Master's degree in party theories and capacitybuilding of CPC, and is an accredited editor.

Since December, 2014

Minister of Culture of China

From May, 2008-December, 2014

Executive Deputy Minister, Publicity Department, CPC Central Committee of China and concurrently Head of the General Office, Central Commission for Guiding Cultural and Ethical Progress of China.

From March, 2000 to May, 2008

Vice Minister, Publicity Department, CPC Central Committee of China.

Before March, 2000

Successively served as the Director of the Department of Political Theories, Qiushi Magazine, the Director for Policy and Legislation Research, Vice Secretary-General and concurrently Director-General of the Bureau for Political Theories, Publicity Department, CPC Central Committee of China.

From September, 1983 to July, 1986

Student of the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

From October, 1978 to July, 1982

Student of Scientific Socialism, Renmin University of China.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

It is a great pleasure to attend this forum and join you in the discussion about the role of culture in the ecological progress of humanity. Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out that“protecting the environment, addressing climate change and securing energy and resources is a common challenge for the whole world”in his message to the Eco Forum Global Annual Conference Guiyang 2013. In face of this challenge, the visionary people from all across the globe have suggested various solutions and strategies from political, economic, social and technological approaches. However, ecological environment protection is a long-term and sophisticated progress that requires not only institutional and technical support, but also the awareness to respect, protect and accommodate ourselves to the needs of nature, which provides a solid foundation for the sustainable preservation of the ecosystem and environment. In this sense, culture is an important core in ecological conservation and environment protection. At this timely and momentous forum, I would like to firstly outline the general situations of our ecological progress, and then share with you some of my thoughts on the role of culture in this progress and in facilitating green development.

First, ecological progress is the development trend of the human society.

Eco system and environment provides material foundation for the livelihood and sustainable development of the people. In the primitive, agricultural and industrial societies, human beings have explored and exploited the nature resoures so much that great damage has been aggravated, especially in the industrial era. Indeed, the industrial revolution ushered in unprecedented economic miracles and created a huge amount of wealth,but as Frederick Engels stated in his Dialectics of Nature:“Let us not,however,flatter ourselves overmuch on account of our human victories over nature. For each such victory nature takes its revenge on us.”Later, we became increasingly aware that without a well-preserved environment, economic and social achievements would be hollow and in vain, so would be any reference to human progress. Since ancient times, the Chinese culture has valued harmony between man and nature and emphasized on respecting nature. At present, the Chinese government also attaches high importance to ecological progress. The 18th National Congress of the CPC listed ecological progress along with economic, political, cultural and social progress as the five goals in the overall plan for the cause of Chinese socialism, vowing to promote ecological progress to build a beautiful China and achieve lasting and sustainable development of the Chinese nation. The 13th Five Year Plan of China published in March, 2016 stressed the need to promote innovative, coordinated, green, open, and shared development, with ecological progress high up in the agenda. Technological and institutional innovation and reform should be encouraged to upgrade industrial structure, and policies should be implemented to build a low carbon energy system, develop green buildings and low carbon transportation, and foster a national carbon emission trading market to strike a balance between man and nature in our development.

Second, ecological culture is an important cornerstone of ecological process.

As I said earlier, ecological progress is an irresistible trend with which we all shall go along. The more we are committed to strive for it, the sooner we will make it a reality. To pool everyone's strength to protect the environment, an eco-friendly culture and public awareness of the importance of environment conservation should firstly be fostered. The eco-friendly institutions and measures can only be implemented despite their threat to some vested benefits, and greentech can only achieve breakthroughs with the conscientious and proactive engagement and dedication of every individual who acknowledges the relevance of ecological progress to their own life. Therefore, an eco-friendly culture becomes an important precondition and necessary foundation for ecological progress.

Culture nourishes and shapes our minds, and it can also help raise our ecological awareness. As artists are always inspired by their contact with nature, many artistic creations tell stories about man and nature. We should encourage and commission the production and promotion of outstanding artworks with the theme of environment conservation and green development. Such artworks can reach the heart of the people in a subtle and natural way, and raise the awareness of the need to protect and value the nature and ecosystem.

It is in the genes of the Chinese traditional culture that the nature should be respected, and man and nature should co-exist in harmony. The rich cultural wealth and traditions of China, therefore, can provide inexhaustible source materials for arts creation with ecological themes. We encourage contemporary artists to apply their creativity and innovative spirits to the integration of traditional culture and modern techniques, and produce artworks that are more compatible with modern times and more appealing to the public.

Third, we should fulfill green development and power ecological progress with culture.

The theme of the forum this year is Towards a New Era of Ecological Progress: Learning by Doing to Promote Green Development. Culture

applies to both learning and doing in a unique way. For the learning part, I have talked about the role of culture in raising ecological awareness. Now I would like to talk about how culture can facilitate the doing, or practices, in promoting ecological progress.

Many people believe that productivity has to be developed at the cost of environment. It was probably true in the industrial society, but we believe that today, we are wise and capable enough to accommodate productivity with the needs of nature. The idea of green development, stated as China's 13th Five Year Plan, underlines the integration of productivity enhancement and ecological progress. It advocates the notion that by conserving the environment, productivity will also be fostered, and by improving the environment, productivity will also be advanced. The precondition and footing for green development is the upgrading and restructuring of strategies and practices which will usher in resource efficiency and eco-friendly industrial structure, production mode and lifestyle. The role of culture can be significant in such a restructuring process.

Firstly, an eco-friendly structure for space use asks for cultural insights. It is through land use that ecological progress can be advanced, and such progress requires us to allot space to production, to daily life and to ecological development as appropriate. Culture is an integral part in a green space structure. Its subtle influence matters in the preservation of historic cities, towns and villages, as well as in building culturally enriched and distinctive urban and rural communities. Culture places soul into architecture, and only when cultural touch is added, architecture can become lively enriched, and the cities can boast their unique charm, without worrying about being dully identical with one another.

Secondly, green industrial structure and production mode requires cultural involvement. Cultural industry is by all means green industry, and its increasing added value actually forges the pedestal for green industry structure. During the 13th Five Year Plan period, we will spare no efforts to energize cultural industry, increasing the proportion of its added value in GDP to 5%, so as to make it a pillar industry for national economy. The structure and framework of green industry will be substantial when new cultural businesses such as cartoon and animation, game, creative design, online culture, and digital cultural services embrace remarkable growth and prosperity. Moreover, we believe that cultural industry should be integrated with related industries including manufacturing, architecture, information, tourism, agriculture and sports to find for them a more low-carbon and sustainable development mode. With culture serving as an important factor that contributes to productivity, it could strike a balance between ecological and economic development and generate momentum for both.

Moreover, culture helps foster a green lifestyle. I mentioned that culture can raise people's ecological awareness, influence their actions and encourage people to live a more eco-friendly life. Apart from that, living a green life also means to spend more money on green products like cultural products and services. In the coming years, we will endeavor to increase efficient supply of cultural products and services, give more and easier access to the people to spend on culture,and foster a long-term mechanism that encourages more and quality cultural spending. In addition, we will make more efforts to improve our modern public cultural service system and promote equal access to standardized public cultural services in an all-round way to guarantee the basic cultural rights of the people and provide basic cultural enrichment to those who cannot afford to spend on culture. We hope to make it an integral part of people's life to spend on cultural products and services so as to pursue a greener lifestyle.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

It is a shared mission of the entire humanity to cope with climate change and protect the environment. It is so important to our community of common destiny that we should all join hands and support each other for this cause. Today, the Guiyang Eco Forum Global has become an important international platform to hear voices, share wisdom and pool strengths to promote ecological process. I wish the Forum greater success this year and in the future, and hope it can make continuous contributions to the ecological process of the world. Thank you.

生态文明贵阳国际论坛2016年年会

Eco Forum Global Annual Conference Guiyang 2016

Speakers

演讲嘉宾

文蔼洁女士现任联合国开发计划署驻华代表处国别主任，负责管理开发署驻华代表处的项目及运行、战略统一以及合作伙伴关系。

文蔼洁女士自2002年起先后在联合国开发计划署担任多项职务。自2011年10月至2014年8月，她担任联合国开发计划署驻莱索托副代表；2009年至2011年，她作为高级项目协调员在独联体、欧洲布拉迪斯拉发区域中心工作；2006至2008年，在布拉迪斯拉发区域中心担任政策支持与项目发展副主任；2005年至2006年，在开发署纽约总部担任多项职务，包括报告协调员和企业分析组组长；2002年至2005年担任信息与通信技术传播官。在加入开发署之前，文蔼洁女士在埃森哲匈牙利、纽约分公司从事组织改革管理咨询，专注领域为组织有效性、传播与流程重组。