Sustainability Language

Sustainability Language

Ecological civilization

China's constitutional policy concept of development in harmony with nature, elevated from 2007 into the country's guiding environmental ideology.

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Definition

Ecological civilization (shengtai wenming) is a Chinese policy concept describing a model of development that respects, protects and accommodates nature, integrating environmental goals into economic, political, cultural and social progress. Elevated at the 17th Communist Party Congress in 2007, written into the Party constitution in 2012 and the state constitution in 2018, it frames China's environmental governance — from pollution control to carbon neutrality pledges — and is promoted internationally as a development philosophy.

References

Overview

What it means

A state-level framing of sustainability as civilisational transformation, tied to Chinese governance and increasingly to its global environmental diplomacy.

How it is used

The concept structures Chinese policy documents, the "Beautiful China" initiative, and China's positioning in biodiversity (COP15 Kunming) and climate negotiations; scholars debate its content versus its rhetorical function.

Why it matters

As the official environmental ideology of the world's largest emitter, ecological civilization shapes real policy and international discourse.

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