生态环境部部长黄润秋回应环保关切

“十三五”规划设定的生态环境目标能否完成？ 5月25日下午，生态环境部部长黄润秋亮相全国两会“部长通道”，回应了生态环境保护领域的热点问题。

China has fulfilled seven of the nine pollution control targets it set for the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), but the country is still confronted with a "grim situation" and "arduous task" in environmental protection, said Huang Runqiu, minister of ecology and environment, on Monday in Beijing.

生态环境部部长黄润秋5月25日在北京表示，“十三五”（2016-20）规划里确定的九项约束性指标，到2019年年底，有七项已经提前完成。但下一阶段我国生态环境保护面临的形势和任务仍然非常严峻。

Still, the country will not relax its pollution control efforts amid pressure to aid an economy battered by the COVID-19 pandemic, Huang said on the sidelines of the third session of the 13th National People's Congress, the top legislature.

黄润秋在十三届全国人大三次会议第二次全体会议结束后的采访活动中说，疫情防控期间，“在生态环境保护上要做到方向不变、力度不减。”

Overall emissions of some major pollutants across the country, including sulfur dioxide, have been reduced to below target levels, he said. China has also fulfilled its goals in reducing the density of PM2.5－fine particulate matter that causes smog－in major cities and improving surface water quality across the country, he said.

他说，二氧化硫等主要污染物的排放总量已降至目标水平以下。降低主要城市PM2.5浓度和改善全国地表水质量的目标也已经实现。PM2.5是一种导致雾霾的细微颗粒物。

The country reduced PM2.5 concentrations in cities above the prefecture level that had missed reaching the national standard of 35 micrograms per cubic meter. The goal was to reduce the density of the pollutant by 18 percent between 2017 and 2020.

Pm2.5不达标（国家标准为每立方米35微克）地级及以上城市年均浓度也已经降低。按照“十三五”的规划要求，这项指标到2020年应该比2017年降低18%。

By the end of last year, that decrease had reached 23.1 percent, he said.

他说，截至2019年年底，这一降幅已达23.1%。

Meanwhile, the country has seen the quality of 74.9 percent of its surface water be classified at or above Grade III－the third-highest in the country's five-tier water quality system－which is 4.9 percentage points higher than the target for 2020, he added.

他表示，一至三类（共五类）的优良水体，按“十三五”的规划目标，是要做到70%，去年年底我们已经做到了74.9%。

The proportion of water below the lowest level of Grade V in the country is expected to go down to less than 5 percent by the end of 2020. Monitoring shows, however, the proportion stood at 3.4 percent by the end of 2019.

劣五类水体，“十三五”的规划目标是要小于5%。监测指标显示，我们去年已经做到了3.4%。

While it's challenging to meet the other two targets－carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP and the ratio of days with fairly good air quality in major cities－"we are confident that we will complete it well", he said.

黄润秋坦言，还有两项任务没有完成。一项就是单位GDP的碳排放强度，另外一项是地级及以上城市的优良天数比例。这两项指标今年我们还要努力去完成，有一定难度，“但是我们也有信心把它完成好。”

Huang said, however, that the turning point for ecological and environmental improvement in the country has yet to come. "We should be clear-minded on the grim situation and the arduous task the country faces in ecological and environmental protection," he said.

黄润秋表示，我们目前生态环境质量的改善，从量变到质变，拐点还没有到来。“一定要清醒的认识到，当下我们国家生态环境保护所面临的严峻形势和艰巨的任务。”

China still greatly depends on heavy and chemical industries in its industrial structure and greatly relies on coal for energy. Besides, environmental accidents occur frequently, he said.

他说：“我们国家以重化工为主的产业结构和以煤为主的能源结构没有根本改变，环境事件多发频发的高风险态势没有根本改变。”

The minister added that China will stick to the green development path. "We will not lower requirements on ecological and environmental protection in face of the difficulties. Nor will we loosen environmental supervision and thresholds," he said.

黄润秋说，中国将坚持绿色发展道路，“不能因为遇到困难、遇到挑战，就放松对生态环境保护的工作要求，就放松对环境监管和环境准入的要求。”