A woman wearing mask looks up into the hazy sky in Beijing. [Photo/IC]

The recent approval of a guideline on accelerating the building of an ecological civilization by the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China's Central Committee shows the top authorities' hardened resolve to push for green and environmentally friendly development.

The shift to more environmentally friendly development will promote the sustainability of China's overall development.

The 18th National Congress of the CPC, convened in 2012, put the building of ecological civilization in a prominent position along with economic, political, cultural and social construction. The latest guideline is an indication of its determination to implement a greener development road map.

To promote more environmentally friendly development, China needs to introduce the requirements for creating an ecological civilization in its political, economic and social policies, and push for the conservation of resources and environmental protection.

The country should make use of its political advantages and strengthen the leadership and guidance in environmental protection. For example, environmental protection should have greater importance in the performance evaluations of officials, and there should be an accountability system for government departments and officials who fail to achieve environment targets.

At the same time, legislation on environmental protection should be made the basis of both national and local development programs.

To push for green development, non-government forces also need to be encouraged to play a role. For example, practical measures should be taken to raise people's awareness of ecological and environmental protection and non-government environmental organizations should have a say in development decisions. In addition, ecological values should be incorporated into the socialist core value system to improve the nation's automatic environmental protection capabilities.

The above is an abridgement of a People's Daily article published on Wednesday.