By Shi Ling, People’s Daily
Many regions across China have employed big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and other digital and smart technologies in ecological conservation, blazing a new trail of advancing ecological progress.
For instance, Ningbo in east China’s Zhejiang province has built a digital twin platform that is able to simulate floods in its Yongjiang River, which helps improve the city’s capability in risk control and management.
In a nature reserve in Shishou, central China’s Hubei province, water temperature, dissolved oxygen rate, food intake of finless porpoises as well as other relevant data are collected by an intelligent ecological conservation system, so as to better protect the animal.
Northwest China’s Shaanxi province has launched a digital platform for rural ecological governance, which features rural environment monitoring, visualized geographical information service and other functions.
Digitalization and green transition are two major trends in today’s world. The two, mutually reinforcing, will create a multiplying effect.
According to a recently released plan on building a digital China, to make positive achievements in digital ecological progress is an important goal. The plan proposes to build a green and intelligent digital ecosystem, which sets new requirements for a new generation of digital technologies in assisting ecological governance.
Only by strengthening sci-tech development and expanding the application of digital technologies can ecological environment be constantly improved and high-quality development advanced.
Ecological governance is a systemic project. Digital technologies support the whole process of ecological governance by making targeted identification and real-time tracking of environmental data a regular practice, so as to systematically and timely resolve ecological problems.
For example, southwest China’s Fujian province has introduced a cloud platform of ecological big data. The platform monitors marine debris, tracks air quality and features paperless approval of inter-provincial transfers of hazardous wastes. It helps ecological conservation practitioners better spot and address problems.
The massive data and the powerful algorithm of the platform have made efficient monitoring and active forewarning possible for ecological governance. Besides, the platform also has the ability to analyze problems in a science-based manner and address them effectively.
Ecological and environmental problems are in essence the problems of economic development models. To accelerate synergetic digital and green transformation is conducive to building and improving a green and low-carbon circular economic development system.
Thanks to a series of policies implemented over the recent years, many digital tech firms in China have tailored low-carbon development plans. The energy consumption of each 5G base station in the country has been cut by over 20 percent from 2019 when the stations were just put into commercial use. In addition, energy-saving buildings, water-conservation agriculture, carbon-zero factories and other digital applications have effectively lowered the environmental cost of economic development.
It is estimated that industries will reduce their carbon emissions by 12.1 billion tons by 2030 thanks to the application of digital technologies.
The synergetic development of digitalization and green transformation helps lower energy consumption of the whole industrial chain, improve production and energy efficiency, and integrate digital technologies with the real economy, thus leading to higher-quality development.
Green development means not only a transition in production models, but also newer lifestyles. From virtual reality-enabled property tours to paperless contract signing, and from online fitness app to online second-hand trading, digital applications are bringing green and intelligent lifestyles to more and more people. Thanks to digital technologies, green application scenarios are seeping into every aspect of people’s life, including consumption, traveling and home appliances. While promoting energy conservation, carbon reduction and pollution reduction, green applications are also enhancing Chinese people’s awareness for energy saving, environmental protection and ecological conservation.
Digitalization and green transformation are important topics concerning global development, and make a pair of twins that are interdependent and mutually-reinforcing.
China will continue consolidating the foundation for the development of ecological and environmental technologies, expand the application scenarios of digital technologies, lead green transiformation with digitalization and promote digitalization with green transformation, so as to make the country a more beautiful place.