World Environment Day: Ecological Civilization Thought Promotion Competition
The US-China Cultural and Art Exchange Association will participate in the third "Ecological Civilization Thought Propaganda Competition" hosted by the Propaganda Department of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee and the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment. The theme of the propaganda competition is "Comprehensively Promote the Construction of Beautiful Jiangsu", focusing on "major national" stories such as the protection of the Yangtze River and the governance of Taihu Lake. As well as stories about ecological protection and restoration. The preliminary round will be held on the second floor of Jiangsu Bank in Zhenjiang on the afternoon of April 26, 2025.
The following is the speech submitted by the US-China Cultural and Art Exchange Association:
Dear leaders, judges, and dear friends:
On December 13, 2014, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited Zhenjiang and sent a heartfelt message: "Zhenjiang has a bright future", and especially praised the Yongmaowu natural village in Shiye Town, "The scenery here is more beautiful than a painting." The General Secretary's words not only praised the beauty of Zhenjiang's mountains and rivers, but also expressed his earnest expectations for the construction of ecological civilization.
When ecology thrives, civilization thrives; when ecology declines, civilization declines. Xi Jinping's ecological civilization thought profoundly points out that "green waters and green mountains are as valuable as gold and silver." The key to realizing this famous saying lies in people. Only when people's hearts are purified can the natural ecological environment be truly protected and improved. Therefore, I would like to emphasize that to protect the natural ecology, we must first create a pure ideological and psychological ecological environment.
We have witnessed many sad cases: the originally beautiful mountains and rivers were illegally built, forests were destroyed and land was desertified. This kind of harm to nature comes from the pollution and numbness deep in people's hearts. This also reminds us that to protect the ecology, we must start by purifying our inner world.
It is not just the rivers, air and soil that are polluted, but also our hearts. When the heart is occupied by material desires and filled with short-sighted utilitarianism, it is difficult for people to truly care about nature and respect life. Therefore, the starting point of ecological civilization construction should be the construction of spiritual ecology. As the ancients said: "If the heart is pure, the land is pure; if the land is pure, the water is pure; if the water is pure, the river is clear; if the river is clear, the mountain is bright."
How can we purify our thoughts and psychological environment? First of all, we must establish correct ecological values. We must deeply study Xi Jinping's thoughts on ecological civilization and consciously form a green development concept that respects, adapts to, and protects nature. Secondly, we must cultivate ecological awareness in practice. Whether it is saving every drop of water in daily life, reducing the use of disposable products, or implementing green environmental protection technologies in production and operation, only when everyone internalizes ecological awareness and externalizes it in action can we truly achieve the comprehensive progress of ecological civilization.
In Yancheng, Jiangsu, there was a touching story. A girl sacrificed her precious life at the age of 23 to rescue an injured red-crowned crane. With her life, she awakened the public's environmental awareness and promoted the overall improvement of the Yancheng wetland ecology. Today, the Yancheng wetland has been listed as a world natural heritage.
Let us start from ourselves, from now on, to make our inner world green and beautiful, and our spiritual homeland full of birdsong and flowers. When each of us has the green concept of ecological civilization in our hearts, the beautiful mountains and clear waters of nature will also last forever.
Friends, let us work together to protect the green mountains and clear waters of Zhenjiang with pure hearts, and create mountains of gold and silver that belong to each of us with green actions.
Thank you everyone!