"Two Mountains concept" leading the green transformation of China's economic society.

The rapid urbanization are serious threats to global sustainable development, making the green transformation of socio-economy and industry a must for global efforts. The theory of ecological and economic harmonization in ecological economics has gained attention. However the Two Mountains concept, i.e., "Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets", has been mostly neglected as a practical demonstration of the theory. In this study an equal weights method is used to construct an index system for testing the effectiveness of the ongoing practices and demonstrations of the Two Mountains concept, and whether it can achieve the expected green transformation objectives. A total of 421 pilot cases and 208 surrounding non-pilot cases in China from 2010 to 2020 are selected for analysis. The results indicate that: (1) From 2010 to 2020, overall 98.33% of pilots show positive improvement in comprehensive effectiveness; (2) Strong evidence indicate that the positive externality of the demonstrations extends to their surrounding region, mainly manifested in the impact of industrial structure change, inspiring collaboration between cities; (3) Such ambitious green transformation has a significant impact on landscape characteristics, which emphasizes the role of landscape management and monitoring. Therefore, this study proposes an industrial integration framework to enhance the transformation of ecosystem service values, to facilitate transition to a green economy in various regions globally. It provides significant managerial insights and practical expertise. The demonstration of China's Two Mountains concept can offer reliable empirical cases to enrich the theory of ecological economics and global sustainable development.

Do China's ecological civilization advance demonstration zones inhibit fisheries' carbon emission intensity? A quasi-natural experiment using double machine learning and spatial difference-in-differences.

China's National Ecological Civilization Demonstration Zone (NECDZ) policy has a significant role in ensuring national ecological security, and it is essential to investigate how the NECDZ policy affects the carbon emissions intensity of fisheries (CEIF) to advance China's commitment to reducing carbon emissions. This study evaluates the CEIF in 30 Chinese provinces from 2007 to 2021 using ecological civilization demonstration areas as a quasi-natural experiment and double machine learning (DML)to examine the impact and internal mechanisms of NECDZ implementation on the CEIF. We also explore spatial spillover effects using a spatial difference-in-differences approach. The results reveal that NECDZ implementation has a significantly negative impact on the CEIF and this effect continues over time. NECDZ policy potentially affects the CEIF through technology development, industrial structure improvement, and reduced energy consumption. Further investigation reveals that NECDZ implementation has spillover effects and inhibits the CEIF in surrounding regions. Therefore, it is essential to focus on developing the NECDZ policy to enhance fisheries' industrial structure, encourage low-carbon innovation in fishery technologies, and increase energy consumption efficiency. This could be supported by facilitating exchanges and cooperation with other areas, considering regional disparities, and assigning common but distinct responsibility for reducing the CEIF.

Socioeconomic development shows positive links to the conservation efficiency of China's protected area network.

While the protected area (PA) covers >15% of the planet's terrestrial land area and continues to expand, factors determining its effectiveness in conserving endangered species are being debated. We investigated the links between direct anthropogenic pressures, socioeconomic settings, and the coverage of vertebrate taxa by China's PA network, and indicated that high socioeconomic status and low levels of human pressure correlate with high species coverage, with threatened mammals more effectively conserved than reptiles or amphibians. Positive links between conservation outcomes and socioeconomic progress appear linked to local livelihood improvements triggering positive perceptions of local PAs-aided further by ecological compensation and tourism schemes introduced in wealthy areas and reinforced by continued positive conservation outcomes. Socioeconomic development of China's less developed regions might assist regional PA efficiency and achievement of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, while also addressing potential shortcomings from an insufficient past focus on socioeconomic impacts for biodiversity conservation.

Public participation and outgoing audit of natural resources: Evidence from tripartite evolutionary game in China.

Public participation is essential to the success of ecological civilization. Whether public participation can effectively play a role in the outgoing audit of natural resources (OANR) is an important issue that remains to be explored. This paper uses the tripartite evolutionary game to explore the mechanism of the audit subjects, the leading cadres, and the public in the OANR. The research finds that there is a two-way linkage relationship between the audit subjects and the leading cadres. The audit subjects and the leading cadres affect the behavior strategies of the public in the indirect way and direct way, respectively. However, the public lacks the path to directly affect the other two subjects. The tripartite ideal audit model of "the audit subjects conduct due diligence audits, leading cadres perform duties, the public participate" cannot be realized. The external effect of the public's strategic choice is not enough to make the profit or loss of leading cadres change structurally and then change their behaviors. This paper demonstrates the reasons why the public cannot effectively participate in the OANR at the current stage from three aspects, which are the interpretation of the equations for replication dynamics, the particularity of the audit system, and the effectiveness of public participation. Three suggestions are put forward which are encouraging citizens' indirect participation in the OANR, disclosing information about the OANR, and improving citizens' awareness of the OANR. This paper has important guiding significance for other developing countries to promote public participation in natural resource auditing.

Impact of China's establishment of ecological civilization pilot zones on carbon dioxide emissions.

Since China's speedy economic development, the problems of energy consumption and environmental pollution have become increasingly prominent. A question worth in-depth study is whether ecological civilization (EC) construction, one of the main policies to solve China's severe environmental and ecological problems, affects carbon dioxide emissions (CDE). In this study, we use a novel method proposed by Hsiao et al. (2012) to estimate the average treatment effect by using panel data to study the impact of establishing the EC pilot zones of China on CDE. The results show that, although EC construction is effective in reducing CDE, the impact varies from region to region. The study findings can provide a scientific basis to promote the experience of EC construction better and improve its CDE effect.

Evaluation algorithm of coastal city ecological civilization development level based on improved BP neural network.

To accurately evaluate the development level of ecological civilization in coastal cities, this paper proposes an evaluation algorithm of coastal city ecological civilization development based on Improved BP neural network, constructs the evaluation index system, and establishes the BP neural network-based evaluation model. By collecting the relevant data of 30 cities in China Line standardization, as the input learning matrix, entropy and coefficient of variation are used to evaluate the development level of ecological civilization. Through 5000 training times, the error accuracy is close to 10-7, and the cities with low ecological civilization level and less cultivated land resources per capita are found out. Based on the improved BP neural network method, according to the development level of coastal cities, the ecological culture of coastal cities is put forward as a whole. The countermeasures and suggestions of construction are given.

A perspective of ecological civilization: research on the spatial coupling and coordination of the energy-economy-environment system in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

The concept of sustainable economic development as the core promotes socio-economic progress and rapid economic development. Nevertheless, in the new era of China, the contradiction between socio-economic development and environmental sustainability is still prominent. In order to deal with the coordinated development relationship among regional economy, energy, and environment, this paper constructs an energy-economy-environment (3E) index system from the perspective of green development and ecological integrity. On this basis, the distance-based coupling coordinated degree (CCD) model and dynamically comprehensive coordination degree model were used to evaluate the coupling coordinated development levels of 11 provinces (cities) along the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) from 2008 to 2017. Then, a spatial econometric model was used to explore the spatial effects of the regional 3E system of the YREB. The results indicated that (1) the overall coordination of the 3E system in the provinces (cities) along the YREB shows an increasing trend. However, change paths varied with the provinces (cities) due to the influence of regional policies; (2) the CCD of the 3E system in the YREB differed spatially significantly, showing a stepped distribution of "high in the east and low in the west"; (3) the 3E system in the YREB had a positive spatial correlation and showed the characteristics of aggregation, with Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces mainly showing "high-high" agglomeration and Sichuan showing "high-low" aggregation, while the rest of the provinces had the characteristics of random distribution in terms of spatial effects. The research process and results show that combining the ecological civilization concept and the CCD model can provide the vision and indicators for evaluating and researching the regional 3E system.

Supervision behaviours of customs supervisors on solid waste import in Shanghai, People's Republic of China.

Waste management is a key challenge the world currently faces. Solid waste imports (SWIs) are counteractive to the construction of ecological civilization. The comprehensive prohibition of "foreign waste" (FW) imports (FWIs) is an iconic measure to promote ecological civilization and ecological environment safety. Strengthening the People's Republic of China (PRC)'s supervision of SWI (SSWIs) is an important means of implementing the comprehensive prohibition of FWIs, while existing research has paid little attention to the behaviour of SSWIs. This paper firstly analyses the influential factors of the behaviour of SSWIs based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), and five corresponding research hypotheses are put forward accordingly. Then, it uses 262 micro questionnaires regarding the behaviour of SSWIs in the Port of Waigaoqiao in Shanghai, PRC, and constructs a structural equation model based on the TPB to identify the influential factors and effects of the behaviour of SSWIs. Some interesting findings are observed in this research. Firstly, it indicates that attitude, subjective norms (SNs) and perceived behavioural control (PBC), all indirectly act upon supervision behaviour by influencing supervision intention. Secondly, PBC acts directly on the behaviour of SSWIs, which is consistent with the TPB. Thirdly, the direct effects on supervision intention from strongest to weakest are SNs, attitude, and PBC, respectively. The conclusion provides important policy enlightenment for the supervision optimization of the behaviour of SSWIs. The supervision intention can be motivated from various angles by strengthening the attitude, SNs and PBC of customs supervisors, subsequently strengthening their supervision intention and behaviour.

Optimizing spatial patterns of ecosystem services in the Chang-Ji-Tu region (China) through Bayesian Belief Network and multi-scenario land use simulation.

To foster an ecological civilization and ensure sustainable development of population resources, a critical focus of China's land spatial planning initiatives is the complex interplay among the prudent utilization of regional natural resources, stable socio-economic growth, and ecological environment preservation and governance. This interplay is vital for improving the population's quality of life, enhancing national resilience, and fostering the development of an ecological civilization. Within this context, this research focuses on the Chang-Ji-Tu region, employing a hybrid InVEST-Bayesian Belief Network-PLUS model. This approach facilitates a comprehensive assessment of habitat quality (HQ), carbon sequestration (CS), soil conservation (SC), crop production (CP), and total ecosystem services (TES) spanning 2005 to 2020, to optimize spatial structures based on these assessments. The findings indicate significant insights: (1) temporally, both HQ and CS exhibit an initial ascent followed by a subsequent decline, while SC demonstrates a rise, subsequent decrease, and then a gradual increase. CP shows a consistent increase, and TES initially decreases before experiencing a rise. Spatially, regions exhibiting high CP are primarily located in the northwest, in contrast to the southeast, demonstrating lower values. Conversely, HQ, CS, and SC exhibit lower values in the northwest and higher values in the southeast. TES exhibits considerable variability in the northwest and a more equilibrated distribution in the southeast. (2) A positive correlation is observed between land use/cover changes (LUCC) and HQ, CS, and SC, while a negative correlation is noted with CP and TES. (3) In exploring potential scenarios for economic development (ED), natural development (ND), and ecological protection (EP) in 2035, our study categorizes TES into distinct zones: ecological protection prohibited zones, ecological buffer prohibited zones, construction and development suitable zones, and restricted zones for arable land protection. This study, grounded in the current ecosystem status, thoroughly analyzes spatial structural optimization, offering crucial insights for future land spatial planning and ecological restoration.

Does digital technology promote ecological civilization construction? Evidence from China.

With the rapid development of digital technology, it is of great significance to make good use of digital technology to accelerate the green transformation of production and lifestyle and promote the ecological civilization construction (ECC). This study first analyzes the impact mechanism of digital technology on ECC. Secondly, this study constructs evaluation index systems and measures the level of digital technology and ECC in 31 provinces of China, from 2011 to 2022. Thirdly, using a two-way fixed effect model, spatial spillover effect model, and threshold effect model, this study explores the promoting effect of digital technology on ECC. The main research conclusions include the following: (1) digital technology significantly promotes ECC, and regional heterogeneity exists in the promoting effect, manifested as western > central > eastern. (2) The promoting effect of digital technology on ECC has a significant spatial spillover effect. (3) When the three threshold variables of industrial structure, education level, and R&D investment cross the threshold value, the promoting effect of digital technology is significantly enhanced. However, when fiscal decentralization crosses the threshold value, the promoting effect of digital technology is significantly weakened. Based on the above research conclusions, this study identifies some policy implications.

Balancing low-carbon and eco-friendly development: coordinated development strategy for land use carbon emission efficiency and land ecological security.

Correctly identifying and handling the relationship between land use carbon emission efficiency (LUCEE) and land ecological security (LES) are important to promote carbon neutrality in the overall layout of ecological civilization construction. This study takes 30 provinces in China as the research unit and measures the level of LUCEE and LES in each province in the period from 2011 to 2020 via a super-efficient slack-based measure model considering undesirable output. The coupling coordination degree (CCD) of LUCEE and LES is calculated, and its spatiotemporal evolution pattern is explored by kernel density estimation and standard deviational ellipse (SDE). The Dagum Gini coefficient is used to study spatial regional differences and the sources of differences. Results show that (1) China's LUCEE exhibited a downward and then an upward trend, as well as a spatial pattern of "high in the west and low in the east" with obvious regional differences. The LES experienced a positive transformation of "less secure → basically secure → more secure" nationwide, with no apparent regional differences. (2) The kernel density curves showed a continuous increase in CCD in general, while interprovincial differences increased, then decreased, and shifted from multipolar to bipolar differentiation. (3) The migration of SDE centers in CCD demonstrated a path of "southeast → southwest → northeast," and the ellipticity increased from 0.167 to 0.173, showing a trend of concentrated distribution. (4) The overall Gini coefficient of the national CCD indicated a decreasing trend, but imbalances remained, with the largest annual average value in the western region (0.120) and the smallest in the northeast (0.044). The main source of regional disparity was the intensity of transvariation. Accordingly, this study proposes targeted regional development strategies to promote low-carbon sustainable land use and improve the ability of land ecosystems to prevent security risks.

Can the natural resource balance sheet system promote ecological civilization? --Empirical evidence from panel data of prefecture-level cities in China.

As a crucial carrier of natural resource and environmental information, the natural resources balance sheet is important in enhancing ecological governance capabilities and advancing ecological civilization construction. Utilizing panel data from Chinese prefecture cities spanning 2012 to 2018, we employ a Difference-in-Differences (DID) model to examine the policy effects of the natural resources balance sheet system. The findings indicate that compiling the natural resources balance sheet significantly promotes local ecological civilization construction, and local government environmental governance efficiency partially mediates this relationship. Further analysis indicates that the outgoing audit of natural resources and public environmental concern positively moderates the relationship between the two. Drawing on the principal-agent theory, we provide in-depth analysis and elucidation of the mechanisms through which the natural resources balance sheet promotes ecological civilization construction, offering theoretical guidance and empirical data support for strengthening the compilation and application of the natural resources balance sheet.

Assessment of ecological civilization construction from the perspective of environment and health in China.

This study innovatively evaluated ecological civilization in China from the perspective of environment and health. A Composite Environmental Health Index (CEHI) was constructed based on the Driving force-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) and Coupling Coordination Degree (CCD) models. Results showed that significant and sustained improvements were observed in the ecological environment after ecological civilization, while economic development continued to progress at a steady pace. However, the advancement in population health (impact subsystem), exhibited comparatively modest progress, potentially linked to issues such as demographic aging and the enduring consequences of past exposure to environmental pollutants. At the provincial level, the regional development was uneven. The CEHI performance was highest in the eastern regions, followed by the central regions, with the western regions showing the least progress. Beijing, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Zhejiang emerged as top performers with higher CEHI scores, which can be attributed to their favorable geographical positioning and the response subsystem. Conversely, northeastern regions (Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning) and northwestern regions (Shanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, and Qinghai) experienced limited advancements in post-ecological civilization implementation. For these underperforming regions, there is a pressing need to intensify efforts aimed at enhancing their response subsystems. In summary, China's pursuit of ecological civilization has yielded significant successes, potentially offering valuable insights for other nations striving for sustainable development. The ecological civilization model's integration of ecological environmental protection into economic, political, cultural, and social constructs may serve as a meaningful reference for the sustainable development of other countries.

Can environmental policies improve marine ecological efficiency? Examining China's Ecological Civilization Pilot Zones.

Terrestrial ecosystems can benefit from environmental protection policies; however, their impact on marine ecological efficiency deserves further exploration. This study uses China's Ecological Civilization Pilot Zone (ECZ) policy as an example of a quasi-natural experimental study, with data from 11 coastal provinces in China from 2006 to 2019 as the initial sample. First, a Super-SBM model considers undesired outputs to measure marine eco-efficiency, while a synthetic control method (SCM) investigates the effect of environmental regulations on marine eco-efficiency. The results show that ECZ policies can promote marine eco-efficiency and the effect mechanisms of these policies are discussed from national and regional perspectives. This study contributes to the current literature by theoretically evaluating the impact of ECZ policies on the marine environment in coastal areas, enriching the mechanism of integrated environmental policies on marine ecological protection, and providing references for formulating and implementing environmental policies.

Corporate environmental investment and sustainable development: based on the perspective of Marxist ecological civilization.

This paper uses the sample of all A-share listed companies in China's securities market except insurance and financial enterprises from 2009 to 2021 to construct a long panel data, and explores whether the environmental investment of enterprises will promote their long-term sustainable development in China's unique and superior institutional and cultural environment from the perspective of Marxist ecological civilization. On the basis of controlling measurement errors, omitted variables, and endogenous problems of mutual causality to ensure the robustness of the research results, and further distinguishing the heterogeneous effects of environmental investment and sustainable development of enterprises in different degrees of market-oriented environment, the empirical study shows that (1) there is a significant positive relationship between environmental investment and sustainable development of enterprises. That is to say, environmental investment can help enterprises obtain social capital, alleviate resource constraints, enhance their market performance, and thus help their sustainable development in the future; (2) environmental protection investment has a significant positive impact on the sustainable development of enterprises in the mature market environment, while in the relatively backward market environment, environmental protection investment has no significant role in promoting the sustainable development of enterprises. This paper enriches the literature on corporate environmental investment, makes a preliminary test of the implementation effect of sustainable development in China, and provides more detailed empirical evidence for the government to further guide the implementation and implementation of corporate environmental responsibility.

Unraveling the research trend of ecological civilization and sustainable development: A bibliometric analysis.

Ecological civilization has emerged as an innovative form of civilization in China, and sustainable development has been widely recognized as a globally leading development model. These two concepts are closely related. The international English literature focuses on hot topics in the field of sustainable development such as climate change, urbanization, government management, and ecosystems, while the Chinese literature emphasizes ecological civilization concepts with Chinese characteristics, such as green development, beautiful China, and scientific development concepts. Ecological civilization and sustainable development are both responses to resource, environmental, and ecological crises and have emerged from the same historical background. The two concepts complement each other, with ecological civilization providing an ideological foundation for sustainable development, and sustainable development serving as the implementation path and concrete manifestation of ecological civilization. To deepen research on ecological civilization and sustainable development, it is necessary to build a global community with a shared future, address the major strategic needs of different countries or regions, innovate and develop interdisciplinary theories, methods, and technologies, strengthen international cooperation, provide disciplinary support for ecological civilization and sustainable development research, and provide country-specific research solutions for global and regional sustainable development.

The development of ecological civilization in China based on the economic-social-natural complex system.

China is making great efforts to build an ecological civilization. To reveal the effectiveness and spatial characteristics of the ecological civilization development in China, we constructed an Ecological Civilization Evaluation Index (ECI) based on the economic-social-natural complex system. We evaluated the development level of the ecological civilization in China from 2004 to 2020 and discussed the coupling and coordination relationship between subsystems. We found that the ecological civilization of China has achieved remarkable results. The relationship among the three subsystems has been improved to some extent, but the high-quality development of the economic system still requires effort. The development level of the ecological civilization in China presents spatial heterogeneity. From east to west, 30 provinces can be classified into four different types of development. On the whole, the development of China's ecological civilization has provided experiences for the world.

Developing indicators for promoting provincial-level ecological economics in China.

The development of the eco-economy has become an important way to promote sustainable development and address climate change worldwide. Implementing eco-economic developmental policy globally or locally requires establishing precise indicators. Currently, there are many studies on eco-economy indicators at the academic level, but the eco-economy indicators researched at the academic level are difficult to be implemented and applied by local governments in China, and there is a knowledge gap between the political sector and the academic sector in the process of cooperation. This mainly stems from the lack of whole-process research and analysis that combines government practice and academic research. We attempt to analyze the differences in the understanding of eco-economic indicators between academics and government decision-makers through the study of the establishment process of China's local eco-economic indicator system. We try to find out the reasons for the knowledge gap between academics and government decision-makers, and to build a knowledge bridge between government practice and academic research. At the same time, China, as the largest developing country and an emerging country in the construction of ecological civilization, is worth studying and learning from its experience in the construction of eco-economic indicators. Therefore, we systematically study the connotation of China's eco-economy and the development process of the indicators. And we combine with the practical experience, describe the method and specific process of constructing eco-economy indicators at the provincial scale of the Chinese government. Meanwhile, we put forward the limitations of the construction of the eco-economy indicator system in Liaoning Province. In addition, we analyze in detail the characteristics and attributes of the ecological economy indicators in Liaoning Province, as well as the relationship of these indicators to the implementation of national strategies and to the SDGs. The discipline contributions and scientific and technological concerns of the indicator system's creation are reviewed, and additional improvement ideas are presented. It is expected that the practice of eco-economic indicators in China will further promote eco-economy development and provide methodological reference for countries to measure the level of eco-economic development.

Dynamic assessment of eco-civilization in Guangdong Province based on geographic information system (GIS) and analytic hierarchy process (AHP).

Based on the data from 2017 to 2021, this paper uses the organic combination of Geographic Information System (GIS) and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to conduct a dynamic evaluation of the standard of Guangdong's ecological civilization. The results clearly reveal that: (1) the Guangdong Province's ecological civilization is 46.31 % above the Chinese average, but growth is uneven across cities; (2) the fluctuation of the level of eco-civilization building in the province declines more obviously; (3) cities perform differently in different dimensions of eco-civilization building, most cities in Guangdong exhibited positive performance in terms of ecology and environment, but poor performance in terms of economic development and social construction; (4) economic benefits have a strong positive influence on the level of eco-civilization building in Guangdong Province. Finally, targeted suggestions are made for the construction of eco-civilization in Guangdong Province.

Research on the Environmental Philosophy of China's Environmental Crime Legislation from the Perspective of Ecological Civilization Construction.

Modern environmental philosophy is a new type of philosophy for humans re-examining the relationship between man and nature and provides the value guidance for modern environmental law. China's environmental crime legislation has gone through the exploration period, establishment period, and optimization period. The environmental philosophy behind this is worth discussing and determines the direction China will take environmental crime in the future and whether China's environmental strategy can really be implemented. At present, the disputes about the environmental philosophy of environmental crime in China are mainly reflected in the contention between anthropocentrism, ecocentrism, and eco-anthropocentrism. There are radical risks of pure human centrism or pure ecological centrism, and these two theories struggle to serve as a value basis for environmental crime legislation. Although eco-anthropocentrism seems to be comprehensive, it is actually ambiguous, and it is still difficult to deal with the conflict between people and nature. In recent years, China has continuously emphasized the construction of ecological civilization construction and written this into the constitution. Therefore, in the environmental philosophy issues of environmental crimes in China, we should consider absorbing the advantages of anthropocentrism, ecocentrism, and eco-anthropocentrism, while taking the original Chinese ecological civilization philosophy as the value foundation.