Deeply Grasp the Connotation and Implications of the Ecological and Environmental Protection Inspection System

The central ecological and environmental protection inspection is a major institutional innovation personally conceived, deployed, and promoted by General Secretary Xi Jinping. Since the pilot of the central ecological and environmental protection inspection was launched in 2015, through a decade of continuous exploration and innovative development, a complete and mature set of normative systems has been formed, becoming a landmark achievement in the theoretical, practical, and institutional innovation of ecological civilization construction. Recently, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the "Regulations on Ecological and Environmental Protection Inspection Work" (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations"), further solidifying the theory and practical experience of ecological and environmental protection inspection in the form of intra-Party regulations. We must take the in-depth study and implementation of the "Regulations" as an opportunity to deeply understand and grasp the connotation and implications of the ecological and environmental protection inspection system, better wield the sharp sword of inspection, and provide important political guarantees for building a beautiful China where humanity and nature coexist in harmony.

中央生态环境保护督察是习近平总书记亲自谋划、亲自部署、亲自推动的重大制度创新。自2015年中央生态环保督察开展试点以来，经过十年的持续探索与创新发展，形成了一整套成熟完善的规范体系，成为生态文明建设理论创新、实践创新、制度创新的标志性成果。日前，中共中央、国务院印发《生态环境保护督察工作条例》（以下简称《条例》），以党内法规形式进一步将生态环境保护督察理论和实践经验进行了固化。我们要以深入学习贯彻《条例》为契机，深刻理解把握生态环境保护督察制度的内涵意蕴，更好发挥督察利剑作用，为建设人与自然和谐共生的美丽中国提供重要政治保障。

Adhere to the political attribute of inspection, consolidate the political responsibility for ecological civilization construction, and fully leverage the political advantages and greatest institutional strengths of Party leadership. Comprehensive Party leadership is the fundamental guarantee for ecological civilization construction. Ecological civilization construction is an important part of the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan and the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy, and it is a long-term strategic task. Only by leveraging the Party's core leadership role in overall planning and coordinating all parties can we effectively break down the institutional and mechanistic obstacles constraining ecological civilization construction, form a synergy for ecological civilization construction, and ensure its steady and sustained progress. The central ecological and environmental protection inspection, as an important institutional lever for the Party Central Committee to advance ecological civilization construction, starts from consolidating the political responsibility of leading cadres at all levels for ecological and environmental protection, further promoting a major shift in ecological and environmental protection from "departmental responsibility" to "joint Party-government responsibility and dual responsibility for one's post." The promulgation of the "Regulations" not only helps to further guide and urge all regions and departments to unify their thinking and actions with the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee but also helps to further enhance the Party's ability to lead ecological civilization construction. It is an inevitable requirement and important measure for adhering to and strengthening the Party's comprehensive leadership over ecological civilization construction. We must firmly grasp the "bull's nose" of the responsibility system, strengthen the "political inspection" and "political health check" of ecological civilization construction, improve the execution of the Party Central Committee's decisions and deployments on ecological civilization construction, and continuously consolidate the political, leadership, and main responsibilities for ecological and environmental protection.

坚持督察政治属性，压实生态文明建设政治责任，充分发挥党的领导政治优势和最大体制优势。党的全面领导是生态文明建设的根本保证。生态文明建设是“五位一体”总体布局和“四个全面”战略布局的重要内容，是一项长期战略任务。只有发挥党总揽全局、协调各方的领导核心作用，才能有效破解制约生态文明建设的体制机制障碍，形成生态文明建设合力，确保生态文明建设行稳致远。中央生态环境保护督察作为党中央推进生态文明建设的重要制度抓手，从压实各级领导干部生态环境保护政治责任入手，进一步推动生态环境保护从“部门负责”向“党政同责、‘一岗双责’”的重大转变。《条例》的出台，不仅有利于进一步引导和督促各地区各部门将思想和行动统一到党中央决策部署上来，也有利于进一步提升党领导生态文明建设的能力，是坚持和加强党对生态文明建设全面领导的必然要求和重要举措。我们要牢牢牵住责任制这个“牛鼻子”，强化生态文明建设“政治督察”“政治体检”，提高对党中央生态文明建设决策部署的执行力，不断夯实生态环境保护政治责任、领导责任、主体责任。

Adhere to a people-centered approach, promote the resolution of prominent ecological and environmental issues close to the people, and consolidate the ecological foundation for consolidating the Party's long-term governance. A good ecological environment is the most inclusive public good for people's well-being, and the people's standpoint is the fundamental stance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. The Party leads the people in building ecological civilization, always adhering to the principles of benefiting, serving, and acting for the people through ecology, paying more attention to meeting the people's needs for a beautiful ecological environment, and ensuring that the fruits of ecological civilization construction are shared by the people. The ecological and environmental protection inspection work adheres to the people's standpoint, focuses on issues such as air pollution, water pollution, and noise nuisance, dares to confront tough problems, and effectively resolves the pain points and difficulties in the people's ecological environment. Over the past decade, the central ecological and environmental protection inspection has completed two rounds of full coverage, and the third round has completed three batches of inspection tasks, handling a total of over 340,000 public environmental complaints and reports transferred and processed, achieving significant results of "central affirmation, public praise, support from all sides, and problem resolution." The people have truly felt fairness and justice in the continuous improvement of ecological environment quality. The "Regulations" take "prominent ecological and environmental issues strongly reflected by the people and their handling" as an important part of the inspection, while widely accepting public complaints and reports, promptly making public the inspection situation and content, and typical cases of prominent issues, ensuring the people's right to know, participate, and supervise the ecological environment. This further institutionalizes the implementation of development for the people, by the people, with results shared by the people, and effectiveness judged by the people in ecological civilization construction. We must always take meeting the people's needs for a beautiful ecological environment as the starting point and goal of the inspection, practice the mass line of the Party in the New Era, test the effectiveness of the inspection through the results of ecological and environmental protection, and ensure that the people's sense of gain, happiness, and security regarding the ecological environment is more substantial, guaranteed, and sustainable.

坚持以人民为中心，推动解决人民群众身边的突出生态环境问题，为巩固党长期执政地位夯实生态根基。良好的生态环境是最普惠的民生福祉，人民立场是习近平生态文明思想的根本立场。党领导人民建设生态文明，始终坚持生态惠民、生态利民、生态为民，更加注重满足人民群众对优美生态环境的需要，确保生态文明建设成果由人民共享。生态环境保护督察工作坚持人民立场，聚焦大气污染、水污染、噪声扰民等问题，敢于动真碰硬，切实解决老百姓身边的生态环境痛点难点。十年来，中央生态环境保护督察完成两轮全覆盖，第三轮完成3个批次督察任务，累计受理转办的群众生态环境信访举报34万多件，取得“中央肯定、百姓点赞、各方支持、解决问题”的显著成效，人民群众在生态环境质量持续改善中真切感受到了公平正义。《条例》把“人民群众反映强烈的突出生态环境问题及处理情况”作为督察重要内容，同时广泛接受人民群众信访举报，及时将督察情况和内容、有关突出问题典型案例等对外公开，保障了人民群众生态环境知情权、参与权和监督权，进一步以制度形式把发展为了人民、发展依靠人民、发展成果由人民共享、发展成效由人民评判落实到了生态文明建设中。我们要始终把满足人民群众对优美生态环境的需要作为督察的出发点和落脚点，践行新时代党的群众路线，以生态环境保护成效检验督察成效，确保人民群众生态环境获得感、幸福感、安全感更加充实、更有保障、更可持续。

Adhere to a systemic perspective, base on the overall situation, serve the big picture, coordinate the reduction of carbon emissions, pollution, and the expansion of green growth, and promote high-quality development supported by high-level protection. A systemic perspective is an important methodology of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. Building ecological civilization involves various fields and aspects, including economy, politics, rule of law, culture, people's livelihood, society, ecology, and security, and concerns the overall economic and social development. It is a difficult and complex systematic project that must consider the integrity, systematicity, and inherent laws of the economy, society, and ecosystem, and pay more attention to comprehensive, systematic, and source-based governance. From the beginning of its pilot, the central ecological and environmental protection inspection has focused on combining the promotion of high-quality development with the resolution of prominent ecological and environmental issues, integrating ecological and environmental protection with major national regional strategies, adhering to systematic treatment and addressing both symptoms and root causes, coordinating the integrated protection and restoration of mountains, waters, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts, and promoting the coordinated development of the economy, society, and ecological and environmental protection. The "Regulations" take "adhering to serving the big picture and establishing a systemic perspective" as one of the important principles of the inspection, set the promotion of the modernization of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature as an important goal, and clarify that the inspection focuses on major issues such as building a beautiful China, promoting high-quality development, implementing major regional strategies, and the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development. It coordinates the promotion of river basin inspections and provincial inspections, forming a mechanism for joint ecological and environmental prevention and control and coordinated river basin management. We must adhere to systemic thinking, strengthen top-level design and overall coordination, accurately grasp the work requirements for reducing carbon emissions, pollution, and expanding green growth, focus on major regional strategies such as the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, and the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin, and closely monitor the implementation of ecological and environmental protection requirements to conduct inspections, making the inspection a powerful lever for promoting high-quality development.

坚持系统观念，立足全局、服务大局，统筹推进降碳减污扩绿增长，推动以高水平保护支撑高质量发展。系统观念是习近平生态文明思想的重要方法论。建设生态文明，涉及经济、政治、法治、文化、民生、社会、生态、安全等各领域各方面，事关整个经济社会发展全局，是一项艰巨复杂的系统工程，必须考虑经济社会和生态系统的整体性、系统性及其内在规律，更加注重综合治理、系统治理、源头治理。中央生态环境保护督察从试行伊始，就注重把推进高质量发展和解决突出生态环境问题结合起来，把生态环境保护与国家重大区域战略结合起来，坚持系统施治、标本兼治，统筹山水林田湖草沙一体化保护和修复，推动经济社会与生态环境保护协调发展。《条例》将“坚持服务大局，树立系统观念”作为督察重要原则之一，把推动实现人与自然和谐共生的现代化作为重要目标，明确督察聚焦美丽中国建设、推动高质量发展、区域重大战略实施、经济社会发展全面绿色转型重大问题，统筹推进流域督察和省域督察等，形成生态环境联防联治、流域管理统筹协调机制。我们要坚持系统思维，强化顶层设计与统筹协调，准确把握降碳减污扩绿增长工作要求，聚焦京津冀协同发展、长江经济带发展、粤港澳大湾区建设、长三角一体化发展、黄河流域生态保护和高质量发展等区域重大战略，紧盯生态环境保护要求落实情况开展督察，使督察成为推动高质量发展的有力抓手。

Adhere to reliance on institutions and the rule of law, use legal thinking and legal methods to advance inspection work, and firmly establish the rigidity and authority of the central ecological and environmental protection inspection system. Using the strictest institutions and the most rigorous rule of law to protect the ecological environment is the institutional guarantee for ecological civilization construction. A good ecological environment is the fairest public product, with typical externality characteristics. It must rely on external constraints to regulate human behavior, avoid the "bad money driving out good," and ensure the authority, seriousness, and continuity of ecological civilization construction. The central ecological and environmental protection inspection is an important part of the construction of the ecological civilization system, running through the concept of "governance according to law," emphasizing that power comes with responsibility, responsibility must be shouldered, and dereliction of duty must be pursued, reflecting the Party Central Committee's firm determination to strictly use institutions to manage power and officials, protect blue skies, and increase greenery. Over the past decade, from the issuance of the "Ecological and Environmental Protection Inspection Plan (Trial)" to the "Central Ecological and Environmental Protection Inspection Work Regulations" and the "Central Ecological and Environmental Protection Inspection Rectification Work Measures," and then to the issuance of the "Regulations," the central ecological and environmental protection inspection system has been continuously enriched and improved, and the inspection work has become more standardized, institutionalized, and legalized. The "Regulations" clarify "adhering to compliance with regulations and laws, achieving precision, science, objectivity, and fairness," and include the implementation of intra-Party regulations, laws and regulations, and policy systems on ecological and environmental protection as key points of the inspection work, further implementing the requirements of law-based governance, improving and perfecting the ecological civilization system, and providing basic support for promoting the steady and sustained progress of ecological and environmental protection inspection on the track of the rule of law. We must carry out inspection work with the concept and method of the rule of law, conduct accountability and punishment seriously, precisely, and effectively in accordance with regulations, disciplines, and laws, consciously accept supervision from all sides, strictly prevent formalism in inspections, ensure that inspection results stand the test, and promote more significant political, economic, environmental, and social effects from the inspection.

坚持依靠制度、依靠法治，运用法治思维、法治方式推进督察工作，牢固树立中央生态环境保护督察制度的刚性与权威。用最严格制度最严密法治保护生态环境，是生态文明建设的制度保障。良好生态环境是最公平的公共产品，具有典型的外部性特征，必须依靠外部约束规范人的行为活动，避免“劣币驱逐良币”，保证生态文明建设的权威性、严肃性、连续性。中央生态环境保护督察是生态文明制度建设的重要一环，全程贯穿“依法施治”理念，强调有权必有责、有责必担当、失责必追究，体现了党中央严格用制度管权治吏、护蓝增绿的坚定决心。十年来，从出台《环境保护督察方案（试行）》，到《中央生态环境保护督察工作规定》《中央生态环境保护督察整改工作办法》，再到印发《条例》，中央生态环境保护督察制度不断丰富和完善，督察工作更加规范化、制度化、法治化。《条例》明确“坚持依规依法，做到精准科学、客观公正”，并将生态环境保护党内法规、法律法规、政策制度等贯彻落实情况纳入督察工作重点，进一步落实了全面依法治国的要求，健全完善了生态文明制度体系，为推动生态环境保护督察在法治轨道上行稳致远提供了基础支撑。我们要以法治理念、法治方式开展督察，依规依纪依法严肃、精准、有效组织开展追责问责，自觉接受各方面监督，严防督察形式主义问题，确保督察结果经得起检验，推动督察取得更加显著的政治效果、经济效果、环境效果和社会效果。

Adhere to reform and innovation, be adept at self-improvement, conform to the practical development of ecological civilization construction, and ensure that the central ecological and environmental protection inspection system is always full of vitality. Upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground is a distinctive quality of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. Only by upholding fundamental principles can we ensure that ecological civilization construction always advances in the correct direction; only by continuous innovation can we respond to practical needs and open up new prospects for building a Beautiful China. Currently, structural, root, and trend-based pressures on ecological and environmental protection have not yet been fundamentally alleviated, and ecological civilization construction remains in a critical period of superimposed pressures and arduous progress. It is necessary to continuously promote innovation in concepts, institutions, and practices, break through the bottlenecks in the development of ecological civilization construction, and achieve a fundamental improvement in ecological and environmental quality. Central ecological and environmental protection inspection is based on the basic national conditions, systematically summarizes the institutional experience of ecological civilization construction, absorbs advanced institutional concepts, and continuously optimizes its own systems and mechanisms. It has constructed a closed-loop management system composed of inspection leadership, inspection objects and content, inspection organization, inspection rectification, and the application of inspection results, making the inspection system more mature and more established. At the same time, this institutional innovation implements a two-level inspection system at the central level and the provincial, autonomous region, and municipality level. It enhances the deterrent effect through special inspections and ecological and environmental warning videos, scientifically applies digital technologies such as big data and remote sensing monitoring to analyze, sort out, and discover clues to problems, and further improves and reforms inspection forms and methods, achieving an improvement in both the quality and efficiency of inspection work. We must adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, strengthen the innovative development of the inspection system, further improve normalized and long-term mechanisms, perfect the inspection system framework with the "Regulations" as the guide, basic institutions as the guarantee, and template paradigms as the support, and promote the continuous transformation of inspection governance effectiveness into a strong driving force for high-quality development and a solid support for high-level protection.

坚持改革创新，善于自我完善，顺应生态文明建设实践发展，确保中央生态环境保护督察制度始终充满生机活力。守正创新是习近平生态文明思想的鲜明品格。只有守正才能保证生态文明建设始终沿着正确方向前进，只有持续创新才能回应现实需要，开创美丽中国建设新局面。当前，生态环境保护结构性、根源性、趋势性压力尚未根本缓解，生态文明建设仍处于压力叠加、负重前行的关键期，必须持续推进理念创新、制度创新、实践创新，突破生态文明建设发展瓶颈，实现生态环境质量根本好转。中央生态环境保护督察立足基本国情，系统总结生态文明建设制度经验，吸收先进制度理念，不断优化自身体制机制，构建起了由督察领导、督察对象和内容、督察组织、督察整改、督察成果运用等组成的闭环管理体系，督察制度更加成熟更加定型。同时，这一制度创新实行中央和省、自治区、直辖市两级督察，通过专项督察、生态环境警示片等提升震慑效应，科学运用大数据、遥感监测等数字技术分析、梳理、发现问题线索，进一步改进和革新督察形式、督察手段，实现了督察工作质和效的提升。我们要坚持以习近平生态文明思想为指引，强化督察制度的创新发展，进一步健全常态化长效化机制，完善以《条例》为统领、以基础性制度为保障、以模板范式为支撑的督察制度体系，推动督察治理效能持续转化为高质量发展强劲动能和高水平保护坚实支撑。

(The author is the Director of the Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization)

（作者系习近平生态文明思想研究中心主任）

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