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蔡朝林副市长在地方领导人对话会上的发言
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     9月5日,世界城市和地方政府组织(UCLG,简称“城地组织”)亚太区理事会会议暨“亚太地方政府的声音——人居三新城市发展议程”会议在印度尼西亚瓦卡托比市召开, 受广州市市长、城地组织联合主席陈建华委托,广州市副市长蔡朝林代表广州市在大会“地方领导人对话会”环节做主题发言,分别从大气环境、水环境、交通环境和垃圾处理等城市治理方面向与会代表介绍分享广州实践成果,以下是蔡朝林副市长的发言内容:

    人居三会议是城市和地方政府参与全球治理的国际盛事,也是提升城市和地方政府在全球治理作用的重要契机,我相信在座各位都与我一样心情激动,并对此热切期待。城市是创造梦想、实现梦想的地方。未来,将会有更多瑰丽灿烂的梦想在这里变为现实。可以说,城市的未来就是世界的未来,《新城市发展议程》的制定将是未来全球地方治理的重要指引。随着城市化的进程继续推进,城市人口的日趋密集,如何应对城市日益迫切的可持续发展诉求,如何满足市民日益增长的宜居生活需求,提供优质的公共服务,是全球城市需要共同面对与深入探讨解决的问题。
    广州是一座拥有2200多年历史的文化名城,具有深厚的人文积淀,悠久的商贸业历史和独特的文化魅力,是中国最大,历史最悠久的对外通商口岸。海上丝绸之路的起点,素有千年商都之称。开放、多元和包容成为广州独特的城市性格,也使她成为在中国历史上东西方商业、文化、宗教的交汇之处。成为中国城市体系中世界性特点最显著的城市之一。
    公元526年,印度僧人菩提达摩,远渡重洋,跋涉奔波,到中国传教,初次踏上的土地便是广州。人们为纪念这位西方佛国的高僧,便称他最初登岸的地方为“西来初地”。
1757年至1842的近百年间,当时的中国只剩下广州一处口岸延续对外贸易来往。全国进出口货物汇集广州,来自欧美以及亚洲各国的商船云集广州,成为一道特殊的风景。
    近年来,广州经济一直保持着高速的发展势头,2014年,广州市实现地区生产总值1.67万亿元,约合2618亿美元,增长8.6%,2015年上半年,广州实现地区生产总值8285亿元,约合1299亿美元,同比增长8.1%,在全国主要城市中稳居第三;人均GDP为12.9万元,约合2.1万美元。随着经济的持续快速发展,在城市承载能力、资源环境、公共服务等方面迎来了巨大挑战。近年来,我们在实现经济发展的同时,顺应人民群众对良好环境的新期待,高度重视环境保护工作,全面实施各项污染防治举措,大气环境、水环境、交通环境和人居环境持续改善,全民环保意识日益增强,环境质量持续改善,有力地促进了经济社会全面、协调和可持续发展。下面我想分别从大气环境、水环境、交通环境和垃圾处理几个方面与大家分享一下广州的一些实践成果。
     一、大气环境治理
    大气污染的源头是有所区别的,我们首先需要对空气污染来源进行分析,以广州为例,主要污染源有7种,第一种是工业排放,比如工业锅炉、工业废气排放等;第二种是汽车尾气的排放,前两种是最主要的污染源,加起来超过一半;第三种是餐饮业的油烟排放,比重也不小,达到10%;第四种是马路扬尘;第五种是建筑工地的扬尘;第六种是江河、港口的废气排放;第七种是企业例如油站等挥发性物质的排放。2014年,广州市按照“减煤、控车、降尘、少油烟”的工作方针,印发了《广州市大气污染综合防治工作方案(2014—2016年)》,实施10大防治行动、57项具体措施、8方面保障措施和3000多项具体任务,有针对性逐步削减污染物排放,在大气环境治理上取得重大突破。去年,全市各领域推广应用新能源汽车3107辆,超额完成3050辆的年度推广应用目标,位居全国三十多个试点城市前列。
    《2014年广州市气候公报》显示,2014年,广州全年观测的蓝天日数292天,年灰霾日数全市平均为36.8天,为2000年以来最少。《广州市环境状况公报2014》显示,2014年全市环境空气质量达标天数为282天,同比增加22天,达标天数比例为77.5%,同比增加6.3个百分点,PM2.5年平均浓度为49微克/立方米,比2013年下降7.5%。广州成为全国五大中心城市中PM2.5浓度最低的。
     二、水环境治理
    近年来,广州以改善水环境质量为目标,以保护饮用水源为重点,积极推进水污染防治工作,强化珠江流域水环境综合整治,加强河涌整治,完善城市防洪排水系统和城乡污水处理设施建设,为全市人民安居乐业提供安全优质的供水保障和良好的水生态环境。我们的主要做法包括以下几个方面:一是抓好源头治理,保护好饮用水源,通过严格执法,对水源区和流溪河流域保护范围内不合法或未达标的企业,依法采取处置措施;二是加快污水处理厂建设;三是同步推进截污和管网建设,提升建设标准,生活污水、工业污水全部截污。四是做好清淤工作,先截污、再清淤,规范清淤流程,做好配套衔接。五是调水、补水相结合,规划建设水闸、水泵、调水池等设施。
    广州治水的效果如何?我想举一个例子。作为中国南方最大河系,珠江是广州的母亲河,上世纪70年代,珠江河水还是清澈如镜,而上世纪80年代以来,随着经济的高速发展,珠江像我国许多大江大河一样,难逃被高速污染的命运。2002年底,广东省政府与各市政府签订了《珠江整治责任书》,开始大规模投入综合整治珠江,并取得了喜人的成果,2006年开始,广州市连续十年组织横渡珠江活动。作为广州市的一项全民健身的品牌活动,横渡珠江不仅是游泳爱好者的一次集体游渡挑战,也成为一项广州市各级领导和市民共同检验珠江水质的标准。
    2015年7月31日的第十次横渡珠江活动,共有2000名来自广州和周边城市的市民参加,我本人也有幸参与横渡,亲自见证了广州治水十年的成果。有一些市民朋友连续十年参加横渡珠江活动,明显感受到珠江水质在逐年改善,一些上了年纪的“老广州”,亲眼看着珠江水从清澈变得浑浊,再一点点变回清澈。重新回到母亲河中畅游,已经是对我们治水工作成效的最好的肯定。
    三、交通环境改善
    环境治理还有赖于公交系统的发展。目前广州市公交出行达1700万人次/天,其中包括巴士、地铁、出租车、水巴和正在试点的轻轨,广州还将恢复和完善“慢行系统”,即骑自行车和走路。通过发展慢行系统,鼓励人们租房买房时更多选择交通时间在慢行半小时以内的房子,以减少交通的压力。
    一直以来,广州在推行公交出行方面不遗余力。今年广州市政府工作报告中提到“继续办好十件民生实事”,其中就包括“加强公共交通体系建设。新增50公里公交专用道,提高公交车快速通行能力;优化调整及新增公交线路50条,投放1100台清洁能源公交车辆”。近10年来,广州地铁从1条线增加到9条,里程由18.5公里增加到260公里,日均客运量为650万人次。按照计划,2017年在建的11条地铁将全部通车,通车里程可达520公里。届时广州的公交出行率将由现在的62%提高到70%,中间这8个百分点,正是“普通都市”向“公交都市”的迈进。
    广州已将“公交都市”建设放在重要位置。基于此,我们提出了“建、增、管、限”的四字方针。第一位是“建”,即是规划建设,大力投入交通基础设施项目,涵盖空港、海港、地铁、地面交通;增,即是增加公共交通服务,将大力发展以地铁为主的轨道交通,以公交车为主的地面交通,还将大力发展轻轨、水上交通、出租车等;管,即是加强管理,提高公交水平,改善乘车环境;限,即是需求调控,包括广州的汽车限行、汽车保有量调控等等。
    目前,广州市已经形成了以轨道交通为主干,公共汽车和电车为主体,新型有轨电车、水上巴士积极参与的城市公共交通体系。
    在公交体系管理中,近年来在广州,乃至全中国和全世界范围内,出现了一个不可逃避的新现象,就是以Uber为代表的网络专车。网络专车作为传统出租车的补充,借助移动互联网技术优势,将车辆、司机与需求者直接联系起来,解决了传统出租车运力投放不足导致供需严重失衡的难题,也改变了市民的出行习惯。同时,网络专车的运行也存在一些突出问题:1.“专车”法律责任主体缺失,乘客权益难以保障;2.“专车”转嫁经营风险,司机权益难以保障;3.“专车”缺乏对车辆、司机的把关,安全无法保障;4. 随着私家车加盟数量的增多,道路面临的压力加大,也不利于我们倡导的绿色出行。
    网络专车的出现,已经成为全球城市交通管理部门共同面临的一个问题,国际上并未形成统一的做法,我们也愿意与大家共同探讨有效的解决方案。
    四、垃圾分类处理
    垃圾围城”是城市治理无法回避的难题,像广州这样一座城区人口超千万的特大城市所面临的挑战更大。从2012年开始,广州把破解“垃圾围城”的重点放在了垃圾分类上。
    目前,广州全市一天的生活垃圾量达1.8万吨,其中90%主要靠填埋处理,随着填埋场趋于饱和,现有的垃圾处理设施不堪重负,“垃圾围城”成为名副其实的城市治理“硬骨头”。垃圾填埋场因为土地资源稀缺和环境污染制约而不可能无限制扩大,垃圾焚烧厂选址因“邻避效应”而进展缓慢,唯有推行垃圾分类才能最大程度上获得政府和公众认可。我们在学习国内外先进经验和做法的基础上,探索推行具有广州特色的垃圾分类处理模式,广州自2012年7月10日召开第一次垃圾分类处理部署动员大会以来,连续4年召开全市部署动员大会。广州通过垃圾减量化、资源化、无害化处理,形成了一套有特色的垃圾处理方法。如今广州市垃圾治理体系日益完善,已经取得垃圾分类这场“硬仗”的阶段性胜利。截至今年6月底,生活垃圾“定时定点”分类投放的社区达781个,生活垃圾分 类合格社区达1247个,合格机团单位达270个,学校垃圾分类示范基地达1374所;大型生活垃圾处理设施成功落地并有序推进建设,已建成项目运营管理 不断规范;再生资源回收利用成效显著,累计规范建设回收站点3100个,试点建设了低值可回收物资源化利用项目6个。咬定青山不放松,经过几年努力,广州已经初步探索出一条具有特大型城市特点和广州特色的垃圾分类处理的路子,今年4月更是进入了全国首批生活垃圾分类示范城市行列。
    广州垃圾分类的“阶段性胜利”让人振奋,但远未画上休止符。广州市人大代表曾视察过垃圾分类情况,结果在不少地方发现“明察的效果普遍不错,暗访的地方基本没分类”。也就是说,现在的垃圾分类还没有成为市民的自觉行为。虽然人们对于垃圾分类的重要性认识比较一致,但很多人还没有形成“人人有责”的公共意识。
    破解“垃圾围城”的任务依然无比艰巨。但只要广州啃下“垃圾围城”硬骨头的决心不变,垃圾“分类”、“减量”、“无害化处理”的思路不变,并且坚定不移地推广下去,终有一天会完全“内化”为市民的自觉行动。这是公众期待中的真正“胜仗”。
    建设生态文明,关系人民福祉,关乎民族未来,功在当代,利在千秋。我们清醒地认识到,目前我市环境保护形势依然严峻,结构性环境污染问题依然突出,持续污染减排的压力不断加大,环境保护和生态建设工作任重而道远。我们期待通过此次“亚太地方政府的声音——人居三新城市发展议程”会议的平台,汇聚各方智慧,探讨推动城市可持续发展的成功经验,加强交流,促进合作,实现亚太地区城市的共同繁荣和发展!

 

 

Speech by Vice Mayor CAI Chaolin at Local Leaders Dialogue
Invited by UCLG ASPAC and Regency of Wakatobi of Indonesia, Vice Mayor CAI Chaolin attended the 2015 UCLG ASPAC Council Meetings and the Asia-Pacific Conference on Local Government Voice toward HABITAT III on a New Urban Agenda on behalf of Co-President/Mayor Mr. CHEN Jianhua on September 5th. During the Local Leaders Dialogue session, Vice Mayor CAI shared with other participants measures Guangzhou has taken to promote sustainable urban development, especially in improving atmospheric and water environment, coping with traffic congestion as well as implementing waste classification and disposal. Here is the script of his speech:

United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development – Habitat III is a most important international event, and also an important opportunity for enhancing the role of cities and local governments in global governance. I believe that all of you present here are as excited as me and really looking forward to the event. The city is where we create and realize dreams. In the future, more colorful dreams will come true in cities. The future of the city is, so to speak, the future of the world. The formulation of the New Urban Agenda will be an important guide for the future local governance worldwide. As urbanization proceeds, population will concentrate in cities. How to meet city’s increasingly urgent demand for sustainable development, how to satisfy citizens’ increasing demand for livable environment, and how to provide better public services are questions that all cities must face together and work out solutions through in-depth discussions.
Guangzhou is a famous cultural city with a time-honored history of over 2200 years. It boasts profound human legacy, long-time trade history and unique cultural charm. It is the largest and oldest port opening to foreign trade. It is also the starting point of Maritime Silk Road, and long known as a millennium capital of commerce. With openness, dynamism, and tolerance being its unique characteristic, Guangzhou has also become the intersection of the west and the east in terms of trade, culture and religion in China’s history. Thus, it has become one of those most globalized cities within China’s city system.
In A.D. 526, the Indian monk Bodhidharma traveled across seas to China to conduct missionary work after a long and hard journey. His first destination was Guangzhou. To commemorate the famous Indian monk, Guangzhou, as the place where he first landed, has been called “the first landing place of the westerners”.During the nearly 100 years from 1757 to 1842, Guangzhou had been the only port that remained open to the outside world at that time in China. A special scenery had been formed with national cargoes imported and exported and merchant ships from Europe, America, and the rest of Asia all gathering in Guangzhou.
In recent years, the economy in Guangzhou has maintained the momentum of rapid growth. In 2014, the GDP of Guangzhou reached 1.67 trillion yuan, the equivalent of 261.8 billion USD, with an increase of 8.6%. In the first half of 2015, the GDP of Guangzhou registered 828.5 billion yuan, which is about 129.9 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 8.1%, ranking the third among China’s major cities; its per capita GDP was 129,000 yuan, which is about 21000 USD. With the sustainable and rapid economic development, Guangzhou is facing daunting challenges in terms of the city’s carrying capacity, resources and environment, public service, etc. For the past few years, while realizing the economic development, Guangzhou has attached great importance to environmental protection in order to meet people’s expectation for a better environment. Measures for pollution prevention have been fully implemented. As a result, the atmospheric environment, water environment, traffic environment and people’s living environment have been constantly improved, people’s awareness of environmental protection has increased, and the quality of environment has continued to get better, which have contributed to the comprehensive, coordinated, and sustainable development of economy and the society. Now, I’d like to share with you some of Guangzhou’s practical achievements from several aspects such as atmospheric environment, water environment, traffic environment, and refuse disposal.
1. Atmospheric Environment Improvement
The sources of atmospheric pollution are various and different. First of all, we have to analyze the causes for air pollution. Taking Guangzhou as an example, there are seven kinds of main pollution sources. The first kind is industrial emission, such as the discharge of industrial boiler and industrial waste gas. The second one is automobile exhaust. The above two are the most severe pollution sources, which all together account for over 50% of all kinds of pollution sources. The third one is cooking fume emission, with a ratio of 10%. The fourth and the fifth are raising dust on the road and construction site respectively. The sixth one is exhaust emission of port. The seventh one is from enterprises, for example emission of volatile substance from oil station. In 2014, in line with the spirit of “Coal Reduction, Vehicle Control, Dust Fall, Less Oil Fume”, Guangzhou issued the Work Plan for the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution in Guangzhou. And Guangzhou has taken 10 kinds of major action for prevention and control, 57 concrete measures, safeguard measures in 8 aspects, as well as 3000 specific tasks. Consequently, discharge of pollutant has been gradually reduced with clear target, and major breakthrough has been made in atmospheric environment improvement. Last year has witnessed 3107 new energy cars applied by various industries in Guangzhou, over fulfilling the annual target of applying 3050 cars of this kind, which makes Guangzhou ahead of many cities among over 30 pilot cities nationwide.
As 2014 Guangzhou Climate Communiqué manifests, in 2014, 292 blue sky days have been observed in Guangzhou, with the average of 36.8 dust-haze days, which is the lowest level since 2000. As it shows in 2014 Guangzhou Environmental Condition Communiqué, in 2014, 282 days reach the standard in terms of air quality, an increase of 22 days over the previous year. Days reaching the standard account for 77.5%, a year-on-year increase of 6.3 percentage points. The annual average of PM2.5 concentration is 49 microgram per cubic meter, 7.5% lower than that of 2013, making Guangzhou the city with the lowest level of PM2.5 concentration among five major cities in China.
2. Water Environment Improvement
In recent years, with the goal of improving water environment quality, Guangzhou has given priority to protecting the source of drinking water, and actively engaged in promoting the prevention and control of water pollution by strengthening the comprehensive improvement of water environment of the Pearl River basin and river branches. It has also committed itself to improving the construction of flood control and drainage system as well as urban and rural sewage treatment facilities, so as to provide safe water supply of high quality and better water ecological environment for people to live a prosperous and contented life. Main measures we have taken are from the following aspects. First, to control the source, protect the source of drinking water, and punish illegal or sub-standard enterprise in water source area and Liuxi River area through strict law enforcement. Second, to accelerate the construction of sewage treatment plant. Third, to synchronize sewage interception with pipeline construction, and upgrade standards for construction. Sewage interception should be applied no matter it is domestic sewage or industrial waste. Fourth, to do a better job in dredging. Dredging should be followed by sewage interception. The process of dredging should be regulated so as to be supportive and coordinated. Fifth, water diversion should be combined with water replenishing. Facilities such as water gate, water pump, and water diversion pond should be planed and constructed.
What is the result of Guangzhou’s water improvement measures? I want to give you an example. As the largest river system in south China, Pearl River is the mother river for people living in Guangzhou. In 1970s, Pearl River was as clear as a mirror. Since the 1980s, with the rapid economic development, Pearl River, like many of China’s large rivers and lakes, was destined to be polluted in a very fast way. At the end of 2002, Guangdong provincial government signed a Liability Statement of Pearl River Rectification with municipal governments, which marks the beginning of a large-scale Pearl River comprehensive rectification. And satisfactory achievements have been made as a result. Since 2006, Guangzhou has hosted the activity of swimming across the Pearl River for ten consecutive years. As a famous fitness program in Guangzhou, the swimming activity is not only a challenge for swimming lovers, but also a standard for officials at all levels and citizen to jointly test the quality of the Pearl River.
On 31, July, 2015, a total of 2000 people from Guangzhou and nearby cities participated in the 10th activity of swimming across the Pearl River. I, myself, was lucky enough to take part in the activity and witness the achievement of ten-year water management by Guangzhou. Some citizens who have participated in the swimming activity for ten years in a row feel deeply that the water quality of the Pearl River is improving year by year. Some senior residents in Guangzhou have seen by themselves that the Pearl River turned from clean to muddy and then changed back gradually. The fact that residents are willing to swim in the mother river is best praise we can get for our water management work.
3. The Improvement of Transport
The improvement of environment protection also depends on the development of public traffic system. Currently, above 17 million citizens per day travel via public transport system including bus, underground, taxi, water shuttle and light rail in Guangzhou. Besides, “Low Speed System” like bicycling and walking will be gradually advocated in Guangzhou. Through developing the “Low Speed System”, a growing number of people will be encouraged to purchase or rent a residence which is 30-minute far away from work on foot or by bicycle. And it in consequence could relieve the stress of transport.
Guangzhou authority has spared no effort to improve the public transport system for a long time. In this year, Guangzhou Municipal Government put forward “Continue Improving 10 Practical Tasks for Citizens” in the work report. And one of the tasks is to “empower the construction of public transport system”. To reach this goal, the Government plans to set 50-kilogram bus transit lane in order to speed up buses, to optimize or add 50 bus lines and put 1100 clean-energy-buses. During recent 10 years, the number of underground lines in Guangzhou has been increased from 1 to 9, with the length from 18.5 kilogram to 260 kilogram. Every day, about 6.5 million people travel by underground in average. According to the plan, 11 underground lines under construction will be operating in 2017, and the length of underground will reach 520 kilogram. Until that time, over 70 percent trips will be realized by public transport system, growing from 62 percent. The growth of 8 percent symbolizes that Guangzhou has been transforming from a “Common City” to a “Public Transport Metropolitan”.
Guangzhou authority has put the construction of “Public Transport Metropolitan” in the priority. Accordingly, we put forward a 4-word policy named “Constructing”, “Adding”, “Managing” and “Limiting”. “Constructing” means that the authority is planning to put great effort in basic traffic facilities covering airports, seaports, underground and ground transportation. “Adding” is to increase public transport services. Rail transport like underground, ground transportation like bus and light rail, water shuttle and taxi will be improved mainly. “Managing” is to strengthen the management, hence improve the level of public transport and make the transport conditions better. “Limiting” is to regulate the demands, including vehicle restrictions and vehicle ownership.
Until these days, Guangzhou has formed a municipal public transport system which stems from rail transport, bus and tramway, and also covers new tramcar and water shttle.
Recently, an inescapable phenomenon has been faced by Guangzhou, as well as other cities in China and even in the world: Uber and other online transport providers. As a supplement of taxi service, online transport applications through their technology advantages, connect vehicles, drivers and riders’ demands closely. They directly solve the problem that traditional taxi industry cannot meet market’s demands. Furthermore, they change peoples’ habits when travel. However, there also exist several severe issues related to online transportation applications. Firstly, they are currently not regulated by law, thus riders’ rights cannot be guaranteed. Secondly, they shift the risk of operation, thus drivers’ rights cannot be guaranteed. Thirdly, there is a lack of standard of vehicles and drivers, thus no one assures riders’ safety. Fourthly, with the development of online transport applications, a growing number of private car owners will join in, leading to a higher pressure of transport. It is not good news for “Green Lifestyle” which we encourage.
The appearance of online transportation providers is an issue that all the transport management departments in the world are confronted with. Globally, there has not been a unified way of managing the online transport provider market. We are pleased to discuss the solution together with everyone here.
4. Waste Classification & Disposal
“Waste siege” is a thorny issue that no city can afford to avoid. Relative to cities of smaller scale, it is even a bigger challenge for Guangzhou, a mega city with over 10 million urban residents to address the issue of “waste siege”. As of 2012, waste classification has been placed at the center of Guangzhou’s citywide endeavor to crack the conundrum of “waste siege”.
As it stands today, the city of Guangzhou produces as many as 18,000 tons of domestic waste on a daily basis, 90% of which is disposed in the way of landfilling. However, as the bearing capacity of landfill sites gradually comes to saturation and the existing waste disposal facilities are weighed down by massive amounts of waste, “waste siege” has now become a massive hurdle for Guangzhou to surmount in order to make visible progress in its urban management. In comparison to landfilling and waste incineration, waste classification is a waste management method that is able to rally the greatest extent of governmental and public support and recognition, for the following two reasons: first, it is impossible and impractical to expand landfill sites without limit, as land resources are increasingly scarce in Guangzhou and the issue of environmental pollution should be factored into decision making; second, site selection for a waste incineration plant is a lengthy process due to the NIMBY (Not-In-My-Back-Yard) problem. By learning the successful experience and practices of other cities, both domestic and foreign, we in Guangzhou are seeking to develop a classification-based waste disposal model with distinctive local characteristics. Since July 10th, 2012, four conferences have been convened consecutively to galvanize public initiative for practicing classification-based waste disposal in Guangzhou. Our efforts have paid off: Guangzhou has developed a set of waste disposal methods with its distinctive characteristics, which are focused on reducing waste amounts, turning waste into resources and disposing waste in a harmless way. Currently, a full-fledged waste management system is gradually taking shape in Guangzhou, which indicates that Guangzhou has made headways towards winning a victory in the battle against “waste siege”. By the end of June, 2015, 781 residential communities have practiced domestic waste classification featuring “fixed time and fixed point”; 1,247 residential communities have been verified as “up to standard” in practicing waste classification, together with 270 governmental institutions; 1,374 schools have been designated as demonstration bases in waste classification; site selection and development of large-sized domestic waste disposal facilities have been well underway, while efforts are being made to improve the management of existing facilities. Significant progress has been made in the recycling of renewable resources: 3,100 recycling stations have been built on a cumulative basis; six projects have been piloted for changing recyclable waste into resources. Once a goal is set, we always keep our eyes on realizing it. After several years of practice, Guangzhou has initially developed a waste classification and disposal model, one that exhibits distinctive local features and suits mega cities like Guangzhou. In April of 2015, Guangzhou was verified as one of the first group of national model cities in waste classification.
Despite the exciting progress Guangzhou has made in advancing waste classification, the program has yet to be brought to a successful conclusion and problems still exist. During their inspections, the deputies of the People’s Congress of Guangzhou have found that communities “do well in waste classification if local residents are aware beforehand that an inspection is coming”; however, “most communities that are inspected secretively literally do not practice waste classification and some of them don’t even set up specific points for waste classification”. In other words, waste classification has yet to become a daily habit of Guangzhou citizens. Despite high public awareness and recognition of the importance of waste classification, many people in Guangzhou have yet to realize that practicing waste classification is part of their responsibilities as citizens.
Cracking the conundrum of “waste siege” is still an uphill battle for Guangzhou. Nevertheless, it is our belief that as long as we never relent in our efforts to solve this thorny issue and resolutely follow and act on the guiding principles of “waste classification”, “waste reduction” and “harmless waste disposal”, there will come a day when waste classification is internalized into the habits of Guangzhou citizens. Only when that happens can a true victory in the battle against “waste siege” be won, a victory that is up to public expectations.
Building a sound eco-system bears greatly on people’s wellbeing and the future of the Chinese nation. It is a project that takes pains for the present generation but will yield gains for the future generations. We are sober-minded that we still face an uphill battle in protecting our environment and building a favorable eco-system, as structural problems of environmental pollution are still pronounced and the pressure is mounting for us to reduce emissions. It is our hope that through the platform of United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development – Habitat III, we can pool our wisdom together, exchange successful experience on advancing sustainable development of cities and strengthen cooperation for common prosperity and joint development among cities of the Asia-pacific region.
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