The 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) again makes the point of the need to "construct a resource-conserving and environmentally friendly society". With its focus on energy-saving and emission-reduction targets, it must introduce incentives and disincentives to help promote resource conservation and green production and consumption.

The green development strategy has six supporting pillars, each with its own section in the plan: actively responding to climate change; strengthening conservation and management of resources; developing the "circular economy"; enhancing environmental protection; promoting ecological protection and restoration; and strengthening systems for water management and disaster prevention and alleviation.

Green targets are also more apparent in the new FYP. Population goals aside, resource and environmental targets account for 33.3 percent of the total, up from 27.2 percent in the 11th Five-Year Plan. It also sets out the key aims that will frame China's response to climate change. These include: reductions in carbon-dioxide intensity, reductions in carbon-dioxide emissions - by increasing the proportion of non-fossil fuels in the energy mix - and the creation of new forest areas to boost forest coverage, timber reserves and carbon sinks.

The 12th Five-Year Plan sets out a carrot and stick approach. It aims to reform resource pricing and establish a system of payment for environmental services. It requires stronger assessment of responsibility for energy-saving and emission-reduction targets, appropriate control of total energy consumption and the application of green development in all economic activity.

Also for the first time, the new plan puts forward an "ecological security" strategy. In areas where development is limited or banned, ecological protection will be rigorously enforced and green buffer zones will be used to shield vulnerable land. There will also be funding for specific ecological restoration projects, so that our children and grandchildren will be able to enjoy a beautiful China.

The 12th Five-Year Plan is a true green development plan, which marks China's entry into a green development era. It is a historical moment: the point at which China joins the global green revolution and adopts a concrete plan of action for responding to climate change. The positive effects will be felt worldwide.

The author is professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Tsinghua University and the director of the Center for China Study, a leading policy think-tank. Source: chinadialogue.net.