:banghead:
China, the world's second largest economy, is stepping up its efforts to achieve "ecological civilization," officials and experts said at a world eco-forum that ended Sunday. Altogether 14 Chinese provinces are striving to build themselves into "eco-provinces," where local governments seek to promote sustainable development with respect to environmental protection, said Li Ganjie, China's vice environment minister, at the Eco-Forum Global (EFG) 2011 in Guiyang, capital city of southwest China's Guizhou Province.
So far, more than 1,000 cities and counties have worked out blueprints and timetables to achieve eco-civilization which features harmonious relations between people and nature, as well as environment-friendly consumption and lifestyles, according to the vice minister.
Li said that experience learned from those pilot eco-cities would help other parts of China move towards eco-civilization, which the country has been promoting as a strategic objective for future development in recent years.
EDIT
Over the next few years, China will set up indices and build an evaluation system to further speed up the process of eco-civilization, according to Li. The country has also launched a low-carbon pilot program covering five provinces and eight cities, said Xie Zhenhua, vice director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country's top economic planner, while attending the forum.
EDIT
http://english.cri.cn/6909/2011/07/17/2741s648957.htmPilot programs and studies, while they prepare to mine 50 million tons of coal annually. Whatever.