The Paradigm Shift in Digital Ecological Civilization Governance from the Perspective of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization

In July 2023, at the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection, General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly stated: “Deepen the application of digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, build a digital governance system for a Beautiful China, and construct a green and smart digital ecological civilization.” [1]1 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection,” July 17, 2023. The “Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Comprehensively Promoting the Construction of a Beautiful China” explicitly proposed “building a green and smart digital ecological civilization.” This scientifically responds to the new situations and new problems facing ecological governance in the digital-intelligent era, answers the epochal proposition of “what kind of ecological civilization to build in the digital-intelligent era and how to build it,” and points the direction for the innovation of the ecological governance paradigm.

2023年7月，习近平总书记在全国生态环境保护大会上明确指出：“深化人工智能等数字技术应用，构建美丽中国数字化治理体系，建设绿色智慧的数字生态文明。”《中共中央 国务院关于全面推进美丽中国建设的意见》明确提出了“建设绿色智慧的数字生态文明”。这科学回应了数智时代生态治理面临的新情况、新问题，回答了“数智时代建设什么样的生态文明、怎样建设生态文明”这一时代命题，为生态治理范式革新指明了发展方向。

I. The Triple Connotation of Digital Ecological Civilization

一、数字生态文明的三重内涵

Unlike some Western scholars who narrow digital technology to a mere technical means of ecological governance, the Communist Party of China, on the basis of scientifically grasping the laws of socialist ecological civilization construction, endows digital ecological civilization with deeper, more systematic, and more comprehensive connotations in three aspects: governance paradigm, manifestation form, and target vision.

与一些西方学者将数字技术窄化为生态治理的技术手段不同，中国共产党在科学把握社会主义生态文明建设规律基础上，在治理范式、表现形态、目标愿景三个方面赋予数字生态文明更深层次、更系统全面的内涵。

In the ecological governance practice of Western green capitalism, digital technology is narrowed into a new type of infrastructure and governance tool for the capitalization of nature, imbued with a strong instrumental rationality. The deep logic of this cognition lies in treating digital technology as a tool for capital proliferation, using it to optimize resource allocation, improve governance efficiency, and reduce the cost of ecological supervision, attempting to use technical means to conceal the anti-ecological nature of the capitalist mode of production, making it a repair mechanism to delay the Western ecological crisis. In essence, this is a typical manifestation of “technological omnipotence” in the field of ecological governance. As Canadian scholar Naomi Klein stated: “Over the past decade, many advocates of green capitalism have tried to peddle green-tech silver bullets, or to ‘decouple’ environmental impacts from economic activity, thereby masking the conflict between market logic and ecological limits.” [2]2 Naomi Klein, *This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate* (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2014), p. 22. In fact, digital technology itself does not cause ecological crises; rather, it is the capitalist application of digital technology that triggers them. Dominated by the logic of capital, the capitalist application of digital technology ultimately serves the interests of a minority of capitalists or financial groups, degenerating into a new tool for capital accumulation and monopoly. In ecological economic fields such as carbon trading markets and green finance, financial capital and large technology companies, relying on their data monopolies and algorithmic advantages, control the pricing power of carbon trading and financial products, alienating ecological governance into a new domain for capital proliferation. This fully confirms the hypocrisy and limitations of the so-called “green” nature of green capitalism.

在西方绿色资本主义的生态治理实践中，数字技术被窄化为自然资本化的新型基础设施与治理工具，极具工具理性色彩。这一认知的深层逻辑在于将数字技术作为资本增殖工具，以数字技术优化资源配置、提高治理效率与降低生态监管成本，试图以技术手段掩盖资本主义生产方式的反生态性，使之成为延缓西方生态危机的一种修复手段，本质上是“技术万能论”在生态治理领域的典型体现。正如加拿大学者娜奥米·克莱恩所说：“在过去的十年间，许多绿色资本主义的倡导者都试图兜售绿色科技万灵丹，或将环境影响从经济活动中‘分离’出去，以此来掩饰市场逻辑和生态限制之间的冲突。”事实上，数字技术本身并不造成生态危机，而是数字技术的资本主义应用引发了生态危机。受资本逻辑支配，数字技术的资本主义应用归根到底服务于少数资本家或金融集团的利益诉求，沦为资本积累与垄断的新工具。在碳交易市场、绿色金融等生态经济领域，金融资本和大型科技公司凭借其数据垄断、算法优势控制碳交易、金融产品的定价权，将生态治理异化为资本增殖的新领域，充分印证了绿色资本主义所谓“绿色”的虚伪性与局限性。

In stark contrast, China’s digital ecological civilization construction is guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, holding that “digital ecological civilization” is not a simple superposition of “digital technology” and “ecological civilization,” but a composite theoretical category that simultaneously encompasses governance paradigm innovation, manifestation form renewal, and target vision guidance. First, as a governance paradigm, “digital ecological civilization” refers to the deep embedding of digital technology as a technical element and structural variable into ecological governance, driving the transformation of ecological governance methods from bureaucratic management to networked, collaborative governance, and from experience-driven to data-driven intelligent decision-making iteration. Second, as a manifestation form, “digital ecological civilization” is the concrete presentation of ecological civilization construction in the digital-intelligent era in aspects such as the digitization of ecological elements, the intelligentization of ecological governance processes, and the platformization of ecological value transformation, exhibiting the New Era characteristics of ecological civilization construction. Third, as a target vision, “digital ecological civilization” carries the strategic planning for the relationship between humanity and nature in the digital-intelligent era, realizing the two-way integration of “greening” and “digitalization,” and avoiding the ideological pitfalls of “technological determinism” and “value vacuity.”

与此形成鲜明对比，我国数字生态文明建设以习近平生态文明思想为指导，认为“数字生态文明”并非“数字技术”与“生态文明”的简单叠加，而是一个兼具治理范式革新、表现形态更新与目标愿景引领的复合型理论范畴。第一，作为治理范式的“数字生态文明”,指的是数字作为技术要素和结构性变量深度嵌入生态治理，推动生态治理方式从科层制管理向网络化、协同化治理变革，从经验驱动向数据驱动的智能决策迭代。第二，作为表现形态的“数字生态文明”,是数智时代生态文明建设在生态要素数字化、生态治理过程智能化与生态价值转化平台化等方面的具体呈现，展现出生态文明建设的新时代特征。第三，作为目标愿景的“数字生态文明”,承载着对数智时代人与自然关系的战略性规划，实现“绿色化”与“数字化”的双向融合，避免“技术决定论”和“价值空泛论”的思想误区。

As a technical element and structural force for change, the “digital” provides solid technical support for the innovation of the ecological governance paradigm. The paradigm innovation further concretely presents the manifestation form of ecological civilization construction in the digital-intelligent era and continuously promotes the development of ecological civilization construction to a high level. At the same time, the target vision of ecological civilization construction provides value guidance for the development of digital technology. Any one-sided understanding of digital ecological civilization will undermine the integrity of its conceptual connotation.

作为技术要素与结构性变革力量的“数字”为生态治理范式革新提供坚实的技术支撑，范式革新进一步具象化呈现生态文明建设在数智时代的表现形态，并持续推动生态文明建设向高水平发展。同时，生态文明建设的目标愿景又会为数字技术发展提供价值指引。对数字生态文明的任何片面理解，都将消解其概念内涵的完整性。

II. The Digital Innovation of the Ecological Governance Paradigm

二、生态治理范式的数字化革新

Marx pointed out: “It is not what is made but how, and with what instruments of labour, that distinguishes different economic epochs.” [3]3 Karl Marx, *Capital*, Volume I, Chapter 7, Section 1. This assertion reveals the fundamental role of changes in productive forces in the evolution of social formations. In the digital-intelligent era, digital technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence have become new instruments of labour for ecological governance, promoting the digital innovation of ecological governance tools and achieving the transformation of ecological elements from macroscopic description to microscopic analysis. At a deeper level, the ecological governance cognition of digital ecological civilization leaps from “experience-based decision-making” to “intelligent deduction,” carrying a profound grasp of the concept of “respecting nature, conforming to nature, and protecting nature,” and highlighting the value orientation of digital ecological civilization.

马克思指出：“各种经济时代的区别，不在于生产什么，而在于怎样生产，用什么劳动资料生产。”这一论断揭示出生产力变革对于社会形态演进的基础性作用。在数智时代，大数据、人工智能等数字技术成为生态治理的新型劳动资料，推动生态治理工具数字化革新，实现生态要素从宏观描述到微观解析的转变。更深层的意义在于，数字生态文明的生态治理认知从“经验决策”跃升到“智能推演”,承载着对“尊重自然、顺应自然、保护自然”理念的深刻把握，彰显出数字生态文明的价值指向。

1. The Precise Turn in the Depth of Ecological Governance

1.生态治理深度的精确化转向

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Humanity and nature are a community of life; humanity must respect nature, conform to nature, and protect nature.” [4]4 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection,” May 18, 2018. In the report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized from the strategic height of Chinese-path modernization: “Respecting nature, conforming to nature, and protecting nature is an inherent requirement for comprehensively building a modern socialist country.” [5]5 Xi Jinping, “Report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China,” October 16, 2022. General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed: “Human development activities must respect nature, conform to nature, and protect nature; otherwise, they will be retaliated against by nature. This law no one can defy.” [6]6 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Celebration of the 40th Anniversary of Reform and Opening Up,” December 18, 2018. So, how should we respect nature, conform to nature, and protect nature? General Secretary Xi Jinping places “respecting nature” first, emphasizing the importance of scientifically grasping the laws of nature.

习近平总书记指出：“人与自然是生命共同体，人类必须尊重自然、顺应自然、保护自然。”在党的二十大报告中，习近平总书记从中国式现代化建设的战略高度强调：“尊重自然、顺应自然、保护自然，是全面建设社会主义现代化国家的内在要求。”习近平总书记多次强调：“人类发展活动必须尊重自然、顺应自然、保护自然，否则就会遭到大自然的报复，这个规律谁也无法抗拒。”那么，应如何尊重自然、顺应自然、保护自然?习近平总书记将“尊重自然”放在首位，强调科学把握自然规律的重要性。

The new round of technological revolution, represented by digital technology, provides us with a “telescope” and a “microscope” for deepening our understanding of ecosystems. Under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, digital ecological civilization transforms concepts such as “respecting nature, conforming to nature, and protecting nature” and “the community of life for humanity and nature” into quantifiable, simulable intelligent practices.

以数字技术为代表的新一轮科技革命，为我们深化对生态系统的认知提供了“望远镜”和“显微镜”。在习近平生态文明思想指导下，数字生态文明将“尊重自然、顺应自然、保护自然”“人与自然生命共同体”等理念转化为可量化、可模拟的智能化实践。

For a long time, China’s understanding of the laws of ecosystems has mainly come from sample surveys and post-hoc reflections at ecological environment monitoring sites, forming macroscopic descriptions of qualitative laws such as “forests conserve water sources” and “wetlands purify water quality,” lacking deep insight into and effective grasp of the dynamic, nonlinear complex connections among various elements within the ecosystem. The rise of digital technology has compensated for this cognitive limitation, prompting a shift in the understanding of natural laws from macroscopic description to microscopic analysis.

长期以来，我国对生态系统的规律性认识主要来源于生态环境监测地的取样调查与事后反思，形成“森林涵养水源”“湿地净化水质”等定性规律的宏观描述，对生态系统内部各要素之间动态的、非线性的复杂联系缺乏深刻洞察与有效把握。数字技术的兴起弥补了这一认知局限，促使对自然规律的认识从宏观描述向微观解析转变。

In the digital-intelligent era, digital technologies such as sensor networks and remote sensing observation break through the limitations of limited empirical summaries and sample surveys, establishing a dynamic, three-dimensional observation system for ecosystems. This achieves a “dismembering the ox” [7]7 “Dismembering the ox” (庖丁解牛) is a classical Chinese allusion from the Zhuangzi, describing a master butcher who, through profound understanding of the ox’s anatomy, can carve it with effortless precision. It is used here to denote a deep, analytical understanding of a complex system. type of cognition of ecosystems and their operational laws, providing a scientific basis for refined governance such as ecological compensation and natural resource asset accounting. For example, technologies like remote sensing and big data drive the transformation of forestry carbon sink monitoring from “difficult to verify” to “visible and verifiable.” Jixi County in Anhui Province, through remote sensing and 3D visualization technology, digitally analyzes information such as forest coverage rate, forest growth status, and carbon flux, constructing a “spatiotemporal + dual carbon” monitoring and carbon sink accounting model. This has produced the country’s first “carbon sink baseline measurement” and “real-scene 3D forest” results, providing scientific data support for realizing the value of ecological products.

在数智时代，传感器网络、遥感观测等数字技术突破有限的经验总结和样本调查的局限，建立起对生态系统动态立体的观测体系，实现了对生态系统及其运行规律“庖丁解牛”式认知，为生态补偿、自然资源资产核算等精细化治理提供了科学依据。例如，遥感、大数据等技术推动林业碳汇监测从“难以核查”向“可视可查”转变。安徽省绩溪县通过遥感和三维可视化技术，对森林覆盖率、林木生长状态、碳通量等信息进行数字化分析，构建起“时空+双碳”监测与碳汇核算模式，形成了全国首例“碳汇本底计量”和“实景三维森林”两项成果，为生态产品价值实现提供科学的数据支撑。

2. The Panoramic Correlation in the Breadth of Ecological Governance

2.生态治理广度的全景化关联

In 2018, in his speech at the symposium on deeply promoting the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Currently, the work on ecological environmental protection and restoration in the Yangtze River focuses more on ‘planning for one region’… and insufficiently on ‘planning for the whole situation’.” [8]8 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Symposium on Deeply Promoting the Development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt,” April 26, 2018. This enlightens us that in the construction of digital ecological civilization, it is necessary to strengthen the holistic grasp of natural ecosystems.

2018年，习近平总书记在深入推动长江经济带发展座谈会上的讲话中指出，“目前长江生态环境保护修复工作‘谋一域’居多……‘谋全局’不足”。这启示我们，在数字生态文明建设中，需要加强对自然生态系统的整体性把握。

Natural ecosystems are organic wholes that are interconnected, interdependent, and constantly in motion, change, and development. Changes in any element may trigger chain reactions. Although traditional ecological governance recognizes that ecosystems are a collection of processes, limited by factors such as manual monitoring and technological lag, it is difficult to dynamically grasp the extensive and complex connections among various elements of the ecosystem in a timely manner, leading to frequent difficulties in ecological governance.

自然生态系统是相互联系、相互依存、不断运动变化发展的有机整体，任何要素的变化都可能引发连锁反应。传统生态治理虽然认识到生态系统是一个过程集合体，但受限于人工监测与技术滞后等因素，难以及时动态地把握生态系统各要素间广泛而复杂的联系，生态治理难题频发。

Emerging digital technologies break the artificial fragmentation of ecological elements, integrating multiple factors such as mountains, water, forests, farmland, lakes, grasslands, sand, and people. Through algorithms, they reveal complex correlations and causal chains within massive data, forming an integrated "space-air-ground" ecosystem network. This drives the transformation of China's ecological governance units from fragmented "administrative districts" to naturally complete "ecological units" (such as watersheds and ecological function zones), providing technical support for implementing the systemic concept of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. It elevates China's grasp of the laws of ecological governance to an unprecedented scientific level. For example, the basic framework of China's digital twin water conservancy system has taken shape. This is not simply the digitization of water area maps but the installation of a smart "brain" for water area ecological governance. This not only enhances people's holistic understanding of water ecosystems, such as flood and drought disaster defense, water resource management and allocation, but also helps break down departmental barriers and data silos in traditional monitoring. It is a concrete manifestation of the systemic concept in Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization that "mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, and grasslands are a community of life," achieving the integrity and synergy of ecological governance.

新兴数字技术打破生态要素的人为割裂，整合山、水、林、田、湖、草、沙、人等多要素，通过算法在海量数据中揭示其复杂的相关性与因果链条，形成“空天地”一体化生态系统网络，推动我国生态治理单元从条块分割的“行政区”向自然完整的“生态单元”(如流域、生态功能区)转变，为落实习近平生态文明思想的系统观念提供了技术支撑，使我国对生态治理规律的把握提升到前所未有的科学高度。例如，我国数字孪生水利体系框架基本形成,这并非简单的水域地图数字化，而是为水域生态治理装上了智慧“大脑”。这不仅提高了人们对水旱灾害防御、水资源管理与调配等水生态系统的整体性认知，还有助于打破传统监测的部门壁垒与数据孤岛，是习近平生态文明思想中“山水林田湖草是生命共同体”的系统观念的具象化，实现了生态治理的整体性与协同性。

3. The Forward-Looking Leap in Ecological Governance Decision-Making

3.生态治理决策的前瞻化跃升

General Secretary Xi Jinping points out, "In ecological and environmental protection, we must calculate the big account, the long-term account, the overall account, and the comprehensive account." This important exposition provides methodological guidance for the construction of digital ecological civilization, especially for ecological governance decision-making.

习近平总书记指出，“在生态环境保护上一定要算大账、算长远账、算整体账、算综合账”。这一重要论述为数字生态文明建设尤其是生态治理决策提供了方法论指引。

"Calculating the big account" and "calculating the overall account" require breaking through narrow local interests, following the systemic laws of the community of life comprising mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and sand, and establishing a strategic overall perspective for ecological governance decision-making. Traditional ecological governance decision-making, limited by technical conditions, was often based on on-site sampling and data statistics from limited monitoring points, or relied on past ecological governance experience to address new situations. This paradigm of experience-based ecological governance has a certain effectiveness in dealing with local, routine ecological and environmental problems. However, when facing global, dynamically changing ecological and environmental issues, it is characterized by extensive management due to a lack of precise prediction and dynamic optimization of governance effects. On the one hand, the inability to effectively form a dynamic grasp of all elements and the entire process of the ecosystem leads to many uncertainties in ecological environment governance and ecological risk prevention. On the other hand, as ecological and environmental problems become increasingly complex, traditional ecological governance can no longer meet the practical needs of high-quality ecological governance. Artificial intelligence, big data, and other digital technologies have given rise to predictive cognitive decision-making characterized by intelligent deduction. Ecological governance decision-making can thus break through the limitations of time and space, achieving intelligent deduction from a broad historical perspective.

“算大账”与“算整体账”要求突破狭隘的局部利益，遵循山水林田湖草沙生命共同体的系统规律，确立生态治理决策的战略全局观。传统生态治理决策受技术条件所限，往往建立在有限监测点位上的现场采样与数据统计之上，或者以既往生态治理经验应对新情况。这种以经验决策为主的生态治理范式在应对局部的、常态化的生态环境问题时具有一定的治理效力，但在面对全局的、动态变化的生态环境问题时，因缺乏对治理效果的精准预判与动态优化而具有粗放性。一方面，因无法有效形成对生态系统全要素、全过程的动态把握，导致生态环境治理与生态风险防范存在诸多不确定性。另一方面，在生态环境问题日益复杂化的当下，传统生态治理已难以满足高质量生态治理的现实需求。人工智能、大数据等数字技术，催生出以智能推演为主要特征的预见性认知决策，生态治理决策得以突破时空局限，实现大历史视野下的智能推演。

"Calculating the long-term account" and "calculating the comprehensive account" require not only achieving a dialectical unity of ecological, economic, and social benefits in the construction of digital ecological civilization, and promoting the coordinated advancement of high-quality development and high-level protection, but also, in ecological governance decision-making, considering not only the ecological benefits and rights of the present generation but also "leaving a beautiful homeland with blue skies, green land, and clean water for future generations." Therefore, the intelligent deduction of ecological governance decision-making is by no means a mechanical output of intelligent technology. Rather, it is, under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, an intelligent deduction of different scenarios and long-term benefits of ecological governance, making ecological governance decisions more scientific, precise, and efficient.

“算长远账”与“算综合账”不仅要求在数字生态文明建设中实现生态效益、经济效益与社会效益的辩证统一，实现高质量发展与高水平保护协同推进，更要求在生态治理决策中，不仅要考虑当代人的生态效益与生态权益，还要“给子孙后代留下天蓝、地绿、水净的美好家园”。因此，生态治理决策的智能推演，绝非智能技术的机械输出，而是在习近平生态文明思想指导下，对生态治理的不同场景与远期效益进行智能推演，使生态治理决策更加科学、精准、高效。

III. The Systemic Reshaping of Ecological Governance Subjects

三、生态治理主体的系统性重塑

Traditional ecological governance often struggles to release the synergy of multi-subject co-governance due to information asymmetry, insufficient social participation, and high coordination costs. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out, "We must improve the modern environmental governance system with Party committee leadership, government dominance, enterprise responsibility, and the participation of social organizations and the public." This assertion establishes a pattern of multi-subject co-governance for ecological governance, providing a practical path to solve the dilemma of traditional ecological governance subjects. The popularization and deep application of digital technologies are driving a systemic reshaping of the pattern of ecological governance subjects. First, they broaden the platforms and channels for multi-subject participation in ecological governance, lowering the threshold for participation. Second, they promote the transformation of ecological governance methods from "limited participation" to "nationwide action," providing strong support for the value commitment that "ecological civilization is a cause jointly participated in, jointly built, and jointly enjoyed by the people."

传统生态治理常因信息不对称、社会参与不足、协同成本高而难以释放多元主体共治合力。习近平总书记指出，“要健全党委领导、政府主导、企业主体、社会组织和公众共同参与的现代环境治理体系”。这一论断确立了生态治理的多元主体共治格局，为破解传统生态治理主体困境提供了实践路径。数字技术的普及与深度应用，正推动生态治理主体格局发生系统性重塑。其一，拓宽多元主体参与生态治理的平台与渠道，降低参与门槛。其二，推动生态治理方式从“有限参与”提升到“全民行动”,为实现“生态文明是人民群众共同参与共同建设共同享有的事业”的价值承诺提供有力支撑。

1. Strengthening Party Committee Leadership, Consolidating the Political Direction of Digital Ecological Civilization Construction

1.强化党委领导，筑牢数字生态文明建设政治方向

General Secretary Xi Jinping points out, "The main leaders of local Party committees and governments at all levels are the first responsible persons for ecological and environmental protection in their respective administrative regions." The Communist Party of China, as the political leadership force for China's ecological governance, provides political guidance, ideological guidance, and organizational guidance for the construction of digital ecological civilization.

习近平总书记指出，“地方各级党委和政府主要领导是本行政区域生态环境保护第一责任人”。中国共产党作为中国生态治理的政治领导力量，对数字生态文明建设进行政治引领、思想引领与组织引领。

Party committee leadership is first reflected in the guidance of the strategic direction for digital ecological civilization construction. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: "Ecological civilization construction is a fundamental plan related to the sustainable development of the Chinese nation." Through strategic coordination of major relationships such as economic development and environmental protection, current interests and long-term interests, and local interests and overall interests, as well as formulating special ecological civilization plans and ecological deployments for major regional strategies, the Party committee clarifies the phased tasks and development direction of digital ecological civilization construction, such as "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets," ensuring that digital ecological civilization construction always serves the strategic goal of a Beautiful China and the sustainable development of the Chinese nation.

党委领导首先体现为对数字生态文明建设的战略方向引领。习近平总书记指出：“生态文明建设是关系中华民族永续发展的根本大计。”党委通过对经济发展与环境保护、当前利益与长远利益、局部利益与整体利益等重大关系的战略统筹，以及制定专项生态文明规划、区域重大战略生态部署等，明确“绿水青山就是金山银山”等数字生态文明建设的阶段性任务与发展方向，确保数字生态文明建设始终服务于美丽中国与中华民族永续发展的战略目标。

Party committee leadership is always scientifically guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, achieving ideological guidance through theoretical learning mechanisms. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization is incorporated into the compulsory content of the theoretical study center groups of Party committees (Party groups) at all levels and the cadre education and training system. The themes of theoretical study have expanded from "ecological civilization construction" and "Beautiful China" to "green development" and "new development concepts," then to "ecological civilization system reform" and the "dual carbon" goals, and further expanded to "green and smart digital ecological civilization," achieving a deepening and expansion from a single environmental protection issue to the entire domain including the "dual carbon" strategy, biosafety, digital ecological civilization, and Beautiful China. This ensures the vertical transmission and horizontal coverage of scientific ideological guidance, guaranteeing that the ideological consensus and theoretical understanding of digital ecological civilization construction run through the entire governance process.

党委领导始终以习近平生态文明思想为科学指导，通过理论学习机制实现思想引领。将习近平生态文明思想纳入各级党委(党组)理论学习中心组学习、干部教育培训体系必修内容。理论学习的主题从“生态文明建设”“美丽中国”到“绿色发展”“新发展理念”,再到“生态文明体制改革”“双碳”目标，再扩展至“绿色智慧的数字生态文明”,实现从单一环保议题扩展至“双碳”战略、生物安全、数字生态文明、美丽中国等全域的深化拓展，实现科学思想引领的纵向传导与横向覆盖，确保数字生态文明建设的思想共识与理论认知贯穿治理全过程。

The Party committee systematically embeds digital ecological data into the cadre assessment and evaluation system, realizing the Party committee's organizational leadership. This promotes the transformation of ecological assessment and supervision work from "result tracing" to "process control" and "full-process monitoring." Relying on ecosystem monitoring platforms such as the Internet of Things and big data, it constructs a full-process, full-chain ecological data system of "real-time monitoring, risk prevention, and effectiveness feedback," achieving real-time acquisition of ecological governance data and real-time assessment of governance effects. This digital turn in ecological governance breaks the limitations of traditional ecological assessment, such as data lag and one-sided evaluation, solves the lagging problem of "post-event remediation and passive response," and effectively guides leading cadres to firmly establish an outlook on political performance that prioritizes ecology and green development, ensuring that all deployments for ecological governance are fully controllable and effectively implemented through digital governance methods.

党委将数字生态数据系统性嵌入领导干部考核评价体系，实现党委的组织引领，推动生态考核督查工作从“结果追溯”向“过程管控”“全程监测”转变，依托物联网、大数据等生态系统监测平台，构建“实时监测、风险防范、成效反馈”全过程、全链条生态数据体系，实现生态治理数据实时获取与治理效果实时研判。这一数字化生态治理转向打破了传统生态考核数据滞后、评估片面等局限，破解了“事后补救、被动应对”的滞后性难题，有效引导领导干部牢固树立生态优先、绿色发展的政绩观，以数字化治理方式确保生态治理各项部署全程可控与落地见效。

2. Government Transformation from Dominant Control to Resource Integration

2.政府从主导管控向资源整合转型

In traditional ecological governance, although the government explicitly advocates for the multi-participation of enterprises, social organizations, and the public, in practice it often still presents a situation of "government-led, top-down" single control. Governance resources are difficult to optimize and integrate, making it impossible to systematically govern and precisely implement policies for cross-regional and cross-departmental ecological and environmental problems. As General Secretary Xi Jinping says: "If those who plant trees only plant trees, those who manage water only manage water, and those who protect farmland only protect farmland, it is easy to attend to one thing and lose another, ultimately causing systemic damage to the ecosystem." This assertion precisely targets the fragmentation dilemma in governance caused by departmental segmentation and resource dispersion.

在传统生态治理中，政府虽明确倡导企业、社会组织与公众的多元参与，但在实际治理中仍常呈现“政府主导、自上而下”的单一管控局面，治理资源难以优化整合，对跨区域、跨部门生态环境问题无法系统治理与精准施策。正如习近平总书记所说：“如果种树的只管种树、治水的只管治水、护田的单纯护田，很容易顾此失彼，最终造成生态的系统性破坏。”这一论断精准切中了由于部门分割与资源分散导致的治理碎片化困境。

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasizes, "We must seek new ways of governance from a systems engineering and overall perspective." The widespread application of digital technology in the field of ecological governance provides an organizational carrier for resource integration between various departments and regions from two aspects: the digitization of subject connection and the automation of collaborative processes. This promotes the transformation of the government's role from dominant control to resource integration, enabling the government to integrate the differentiated resources of multiple subjects with a more open structure and more flexible mechanisms.

习近平总书记强调，“要从系统工程和全局角度寻求新的治理之道”。数字技术在生态治理领域的广泛应用，从主体联结的数字化、协作流程的自动化两个方面为各部门、各区域之间的资源整合提供组织载体，推动政府角色从主导管控向资源整合转型，使政府能够以更开放的架构、更灵活的机制整合多元主体的差异化资源。

In terms of the digitalization of subject connectivity, the government uses digital platforms such as government service platforms and smart environmental protection mini-programs to incorporate the government, enterprises, social organizations, and the public into a single interactive network. This breaks through the temporal-spatial isolation and hierarchical barriers of traditional bureaucracy, enabling real-time connection and dynamic consultation among multiple subjects, and lowering the communication threshold and transaction costs of resource integration. In terms of the automation of collaborative processes, digital technologies such as electronic signatures and electronic contracts shift ecological governance from manual collaboration to electronic informatization, compressing collaborative processes from weeks to minutes, thereby enhancing the credibility and efficiency of resource integration.

在主体联结数字化方面，政府通过政务服务平台、智慧环保小程序等数字平台，将政府、企业、社会组织、公众纳入同一交互网络，突破传统科层制的时空隔离与层级阻隔，实现多元主体实时连接、动态协商，降低资源整合的交流门槛与交易成本。在协作流程自动化方面，电子签章、电子合约等数字技术使生态治理中的人工协作转向电子信息化，将协作流程从按周计算压缩至按分钟计算，提升资源整合的可信度与效率。

3. The transformation of enterprises from compliance-oriented actors to innovators

3.企业从合规者向创新者转变

In traditional ecological governance, corporate environmental responsibility has long been narrowly defined as bottom-line requirements such as “energy conservation and emission reduction” and “pollution prevention.” This has given rise to compliance-oriented corporate actions, where whether upgrading pollution treatment facilities or reducing process energy consumption, the core demand is “meeting emission standards and avoiding penalty risks,” lacking an endogenous motivation to actively integrate into the ecological governance system. More importantly, as key actors in controlling carbon emissions and promoting the green transformation of production and lifestyle, enterprises’ initiative and innovation in cultivating green productive forces and developing new quality productive forces have not been fully released or activated. The green transformation of social production remains stuck at the initial stage of reducing production costs. This role dilemma not only constrains the high-quality development of enterprises but also deprives ecological governance of crucial subject support.

在传统生态治理中，企业环境责任长期被窄化为“节能减排”“污染预防”等底线要求。由此衍生出企业的合规型行动，即无论是改造污染处理设施，还是降低流程能耗，均以“满足排放标准，规避处罚风险”为核心诉求，缺乏主动融入生态治理体系的内生动力。更重要的是，作为控制碳排放、推动生产生活方式绿色化转型的重要主体，企业在培育绿色生产力、发展新质生产力方面的主动性和创新性未能充分释放与激活，社会生产绿色转型仍停留在降低生产成本的初级阶段。这一角色困境，既制约了企业高质量发展，也使生态治理缺少重要主体支撑。

General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: “Protecting the ecological environment means protecting productive forces, and improving the ecological environment means developing productive forces.” [10]10 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection” (May 18, 2018), in *Selected Readings of Xi Jinping’s Works*, Vol. 2, Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 2023, p. 370. This assertion clarifies from the perspective of productive forces that the ecological wealth inherent in the natural environment itself can be transformed into socio-economic wealth on the basis of following natural laws. The Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee [11]11 The Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee was held in October 2015, where the “Five Development Concepts” (innovation, coordination, green, openness, sharing) were proposed. incorporated “green” as an important component of the new development philosophy. On May 18, 2018, at the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed establishing “an ecological economic system with industrial ecologization and ecological industrialization as the main body,” emphasizing that “the focus is on adjusting structures, optimizing layouts, strengthening industries, and completing chains.” [12]12 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection” (May 18, 2018), in *Selected Readings of Xi Jinping’s Works*, Vol. 2, p. 375. The report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC [13]13 The 20th National Congress of the CPC was held in October 2022. emphasized accelerating the green transformation of the development model. In 2024, the “Guiding Opinions of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and Seven Other Departments on Accelerating the Green Development of the Manufacturing Industry” made a strategic deployment to “cultivate new business forms integrating green, digital, and service-oriented development.” [14]14 Ministry of Industry and Information Technology et al., “Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Green Development of the Manufacturing Industry,” No. 2 [2024], issued February 2024. On the one hand, these important expositions mean that enterprises must transform from resource-intensive to green-oriented models, and their subjective role in ecological governance will be further activated. On the other hand, they mean that digital technology provides solid technical support for developing new business forms for enterprises, cultivating green productive forces and new quality productive forces, and promoting the transformation of enterprises from compliance-oriented actors to innovators in ecological governance.

习近平总书记提出：“保护生态环境就是保护生产力，改善生态环境就是发展生产力。”这一论断从生产力角度阐明自然环境本身蕴藏的生态财富可以在遵循自然规律基础上转变为社会经济财富。党的十八届五中全会将“绿色”作为新发展理念的重要组成部分。2018年5月18日，习近平总书记在全国生态环境保护大会上提出建立“以产业生态化和生态产业化为主体的生态经济体系”,强调“重点是调结构、优布局、强产业、全链条”。党的二十大报告强调加快发展方式绿色转型。2024年，《工业和信息化部等七部门关于加快推动制造业绿色化发展的指导意见》作出“培育绿色化数字化服务化融合发展新业态”的战略部署。这些重要论述，一方面意味着企业要从资源消耗型向绿色化转变，其在生态治理中的主体性作用将被进一步激活；另一方面意味着数字技术为发展企业新业态、培育绿色生产力与新质生产力提供坚实的技术支撑，推动企业在生态治理中从合规者向创新者转变。

Digital technology drives industrial forms toward digitalization and greening. In laying out the development of green industries, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that we should “cultivate and expand energy-saving and environmental protection industries, clean production industries, and clean energy industries, and develop efficient agriculture, advanced manufacturing, and modern service industries. Promote comprehensive resource conservation and circular utilization, and realize the circular linkage between production systems and living systems.” [15]15 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection” (May 18, 2018), in *Selected Readings of Xi Jinping’s Works*, Vol. 2, p. 376. Under the trend of deep integration of digitalization and greening, traditional high-energy-consuming industries such as steel, petrochemicals, and building materials have achieved green technological innovation and refined management, with production efficiency greatly improved. A number of technology-intensive and knowledge-intensive “digital-green integrated” industries are emerging. For example, the new energy vehicle industry improves the energy utilization efficiency of vehicle batteries, enhances the stability and safety of intelligent driving technology through sensor networks and intelligent analysis, and provides digital and green innovation services in reducing carbon emissions and exhaust pollution. These new industries, new business forms, and new models, which combine high technological content with green benefits, constitute the economic base of digital ecological civilization. They are not only new engines driving economic growth but also core links in building a green, low-carbon circular economic system, providing solid industrial support for the construction of digital ecological civilization.

数字技术驱动产业形态向数字化、绿色化方向发展。习近平总书记在布局绿色产业发展时指出，要“培育壮大节能环保产业、清洁生产产业、清洁能源产业，发展高效农业、先进制造业、现代服务业。推进资源全面节约和循环利用，实现生产系统和生活系统循环链接”。在数字化与绿色化深度融合的趋势下，钢铁、石化、建材等传统高耗能行业实现工艺绿色化革新和精细化管理，生产效率大幅提升。一批技术密集型、知识密集型的“数绿融合”产业正在崛起。例如，新能源汽车产业通过提高汽车电池能源利用效率，借助传感器网络、智能分析等手段提高智能驾驶技术的稳定性与安全性，在减少碳排放、尾气污染等方面提供数字化、绿色化创新服务。这些兼具高科技含量与绿色效益的新产业、新业态、新模式，构成了数字生态文明的经济基础，既是拉动经济增长的新引擎，更是构建绿色低碳循环经济体系的核心环节，为数字生态文明建设提供坚实产业支撑。

4. The transformation of social participation from limited subjects to universal co-governance

4.社会参与从有限主体向全民共治转变

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Ecological civilization is a cause that the people jointly participate in, jointly build, and jointly enjoy. We must turn the construction of a beautiful China into the conscious action of all the people.” [16]16 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection” (May 18, 2018), in *Selected Readings of Xi Jinping’s Works*, Vol. 2, p. 378. This assertion clarifies the collective and extensive nature of ecological civilization construction from the height of the people’s subjectivity, establishing the important position of a “system of universal action” in ecological governance. Building a system of universal action for ecological governance requires not only confirming citizens’ important rights to ecological environmental information, participation, and supervision at the institutional level, but also promoting the universal coverage and effective exercise of these ecological rights.

习近平总书记指出：“生态文明是人民群众共同参与共同建设共同享有的事业，要把建设美丽中国转化为全体人民自觉行动。”这一论断从人民主体性高度阐明了生态文明建设行动的集体性与广泛性，确立了“全民行动体系”在生态治理中的重要地位。构建生态治理全民行动体系，不仅需要从制度层面确认公民的生态环境知情权、参与权、监督权等重要权利，更需要推动这些生态权利实现普遍覆盖与有效行使。

In traditional ecological governance, governance subjects such as social organizations and the public are mostly confined to limited roles and scenarios at the end of governance, such as supervision, reporting, publicity, and education. They lack institutionalized, normalized, and diverse participation channels and guarantee mechanisms. This leads to a disconnect between the blueprint of the “system of universal action” and the practice of ecological governance, making it difficult to form a governance synergy and pattern with effective participation by all the people.

在传统生态治理中，社会组织、公众等治理主体多集中在治理末端的监督举报、宣传教育等有限角色与有限场景，缺乏制度化、常态化、多样性的参与渠道与保障机制，导致“全民行动体系”的蓝图规划与生态治理实践存在脱节，难以形成全民有效参与的治理合力与治理格局。

Digital platforms for ecological governance, formed by the widespread popularization of the Internet and the deep application of big data, dissolve the drawbacks of traditional ecological governance paradigms, such as information barriers and limited participation channels faced by the public in ecological governance. They transform formal ecological rights, such as the right to environmental information and supervision, into perceptible, participatory, and practical daily ecological actions. This achieves the digital guarantee and equal access to ecological rights, using digital methods to continuously improve the system of universal action.

因互联网广泛普及与大数据深度应用形成的生态治理数字平台，消解了传统生态治理范式下公众参与生态治理面临的信息壁垒、参与渠道有限等弊端，使形式上的环境知情权与监督权等生态权利转化为可感知、可参与、可实践的日常生态行动，实现了生态权利的数字化保障与均等触达，以数字化方式推动全民行动体系不断完善。

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that “everyone is a protector, builder, and beneficiary of the ecological environment,” and we must “carry out universal green actions.” [17]17 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection” (May 18, 2018), in *Selected Readings of Xi Jinping’s Works*, Vol. 2, p. 378. On the one hand, subjects such as the government and enterprises rely on digital ecological platforms, using forms such as visualized data and short video publicity, to proactively disclose air quality, water quality conditions, pollution source information, ecological governance policies, and implementation effects. This greatly increases the accessibility of ecological data and information, lowers the threshold for public information acquisition, and guarantees the public’s right to ecological environmental information from the perspective of digital technology. On the other hand, subjects such as the government and enterprises continuously broaden the practical paths for public participation in ecological governance by developing diverse digital participation platforms for ecology. The public can participate in ecological environmental governance anytime and anywhere through digital platform functions such as “snap and report,” “online reporting,” and “opinion solicitation,” truly implementing “universal green actions.” This lays the technical foundation for achieving equal access to ecological rights and interests for all people and broadens the social participation boundaries of ecological civilization construction.

习近平总书记强调，“每个人都是生态环境的保护者、建设者、受益者”,要“开展全民绿色行动”。一方面，政府、企业等主体依托数字生态平台，以可视化数据、短视频宣传等形式，主动公开空气质量、水质情况、污染源信息、生态治理政策与实施效果等内容，大幅提升生态数据信息普及度，降低公众信息获取门槛，从数字技术层面保障公众的生态环境知情权。另一方面，政府、企业等主体通过开发多样化的生态数字参与平台，不断拓宽公众参与生态治理的实践路径。公众可以通过“随手拍”“线上举报”“意见征集”等数字平台功能，随时随地参与生态环境治理，真正落实“全民绿色行动”,为实现全民生态权益均等触达奠定技术基础，拓宽生态文明建设的社会参与边界。

IV. The universal realization of ecological governance goals

四、生态治理目标的普惠化实现

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that “a good ecological environment is the most universal public good for people’s livelihoods,” [18]18 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection” (May 18, 2018), in *Selected Readings of Xi Jinping’s Works*, Vol. 2, p. 371. “protecting the ecological environment is also for people’s livelihoods,” [19]19 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection” (May 18, 2018), in *Selected Readings of Xi Jinping’s Works*, Vol. 2, p. 371. and “we must adhere to benefiting the people, serving the people, and acting for the people through ecology.” [20]20 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection” (May 18, 2018), in *Selected Readings of Xi Jinping’s Works*, Vol. 2, p. 371. These important expositions constitute the people-centered value stance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, highlighting the universal attribute of ecological civilization construction. Although traditional ecological governance adheres to the value stance of ecology for the people, it still faces difficulties such as vague ecological value accounting and uneven distribution of ecological welfare. “The difficulty of implementing ecological universal benefits on the ground” has become a pressing problem to be solved in ecological governance in the New Era.

习近平总书记指出，“良好的生态环境是最普惠的民生福祉”,“保护生态环境同样也是为了民生”,“要坚持生态惠民、生态利民、生态为民”。这些重要论述构成习近平生态文明思想的人民性价值立场，彰显出生态文明建设的普惠属性。传统生态治理虽然秉持生态为民的价值立场，但仍面临着生态价值核算模糊、生态福祉分配不均等困境，“生态普惠落地难”成为新时代生态治理亟待破解的难题。

“Digitalization of ecological universal benefits” is an innovative path to solve the problem of “difficulty in implementing ecological universal benefits on the ground” in the age of digital intelligence. It helps build a new paradigm of ecological governance where ecological value is perceptible and quantifiable, and ecological welfare is shareable and universal. This ecological practice innovation is not merely a simple application of digital technology in the field of ecological environmental governance; it is also incorporated into the normative framework of ecological sustainability. It is an action for ecological civilization construction that earnestly implements Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, is people-centered, aims at sharing ecological welfare, and coordinates the evolution of digitalization and greening.

“生态普惠数字化”是数智时代破解“生态普惠落地难”问题的创新路径，助力构建一个生态价值可感知、可量化，生态福祉可共享、可普惠的生态治理新范式。这一生态实践创新不仅是数字技术在生态环境治理领域的简单应用，更被纳入生态可持续性的规范框架，是切实落实习近平生态文明思想以人民为中心，以生态福祉共享为目标，数字化与绿色化协同演进的生态文明建设行动。

1. Digital technology empowers the quantification of ecological value

1.数字技术赋能生态价值可量化

The precise quantification and scientific accounting of ecological value are important prerequisites for achieving universal ecological benefits for the people and the shared enjoyment of ecological well-being by all. General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out, “We must accelerate the establishment of a mechanism for realizing the value of ecological products, so that those who protect and restore the ecological environment receive reasonable returns.” [21]21 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the 29th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting,” November 18, 2022. The development of digital technology is driving the transition of ecological universal benefits from manual accounting to digital accounting, thereby powerfully demonstrating the people-centered character of digital ecological civilization construction.

生态价值的精准量化与科学核算，是实现全民生态普惠化、生态福祉全民共享的重要前提。习近平总书记深刻指出，“要加快建立生态产品价值实现机制，让保护修复生态环境获得合理回报”。数字技术的发展推动生态普惠从人工核算向数字化核算跃迁，使数字生态文明建设的人民性特征得到有力彰显。

In traditional ecological governance, due to technological constraints, ecological value often existed in a state of “vague accounting” and “difficulty in quantification.” This not only prevented the ecological rights and interests of ecological protectors from being effectively safeguarded but also hindered the smooth transformation of “lucid waters and lush mountains” into “mountains of gold and silver.” The deep integration of new-generation digital technology with the mechanism for realizing the value of ecological products is driving ecological value from “vague accounting” toward “scientific quantification,” laying the technological foundation for achieving universal ecological benefits for the people.

在传统生态治理中，生态价值因技术条件制约，常常处于“模糊核算”“难以量化”的状态，既导致生态保护者的生态权益无法得到有效保障，也制约了“绿水青山”向“金山银山”的顺利转化。新一代数字技术与生态产品价值实现机制深度融合，正推动生态价值从“模糊核算”走向“科学量化”,为实现全民生态普惠化奠定技术基础。

Take the digital governance of natural resources as an example. In February 2024, the Ministry of Natural Resources formulated and issued the “Overall Plan for Enhancing the Digital Governance Capability of Natural Resources,” which explicitly proposes to fully leverage the new opportunities for ecological governance brought by new-generation information technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and the video internet. It aims to build a “single network” for natural resources and a “single map” for natural resources, enabling data collection and monitoring to penetrate the entire process, full cycle, and all elements of the development of the life community of mountains, waters, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts, thereby constructing an integrated digital ecosystem spanning space, air, and ground. Through massive ecological data collection and analysis using artificial intelligence and big data, China can scientifically master the quantifiable calculation and dynamic assessment of the supply of ecological products, including ecosystem carbon sequestration and oxygen release, air purification capacity, and forest timber yield, transforming “priceless” ecological resources into measurable “valuable” ecological benefits. On this basis, the application of technologies such as blockchain and 5G provides a traceable trust mechanism for realizing the value of ecological products and offers an objective basis for the distribution of ecological rights and interests.

以自然资源数字化治理为例。2024年2月，自然资源部制定印发《自然资源数字化治理能力提升总体方案》,明确提出将充分利用大数据、人工智能、物联网、视联网等新一代信息技术带来的生态治理新机遇，建成自然资源“一张网”和自然资源“一张图”,使数据采集、监测渗透到山水林田湖草沙生命共同体等生态系统发展全过程、全周期、全要素，构建天地空一体化数字生态系统。通过海量的生态数据收集以及人工智能、大数据分析，我国可以科学掌握包括生态系统固碳释氧、空气净化能力、林木产量等生态产品供给可量化计算与动态评估，使“无价”的生态资源转变为可测量的“有价”生态效益。在此基础上，区块链、5G等技术应用，为生态产品价值实现提供可追溯的信任机制，为生态权益分配提供客观依据。

2. Digital Technology Promotes the Shareability of Ecological Well-being

2.数字技术推进生态福祉可共享

“A sound ecological environment is the most universal public good for the people’s well-being.” The shared enjoyment of ecological well-being by all people is the ultimate value goal of the digitalization of ecological universal benefits. The core lies in using digital technology to broaden the scope of ecological benefit sharing in terms of both regions and groups, enabling all people to fairly enjoy the beneficial outcomes of ecological governance and meet the people’s growing needs for a beautiful ecological environment.

“良好的生态环境是最普惠的民生福祉。”生态福祉全民共享是生态普惠数字化的最终价值目标，核心在于通过数字技术在地域与群体两个方面拓宽生态效益共享范围，使全体人民能够公平享有生态治理带来的有益成果，满足人民日益增长的美好生态环境需要。

Marx pointed out that human labor practice “is a process between man and nature, a process in which man through his own activities mediates, regulates and controls the material interchange between himself and nature.” [22]22 Karl Marx, Capital, Vol. 1, in Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 23, p. 201. However, under capitalist relations of production, an irreparable rift appeared in this material interchange between town and country. Under social conditions where producers are united, it should be necessary to “rationally regulate their material interchange with nature.” [23]23 Karl Marx, Capital, Vol. 3, in Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 25, p. 926.

马克思指出，人的劳动实践“是人和自然之间的过程，是人以自身的活动来中介、调整和控制人和自然之间的物质变换的过程”。然而，在资本主义生产关系下，物质变换在城乡之间出现了一个无法弥补的裂缝。在生产者联合起来的社会条件下，应该有必要“合理地调节他们和自然之间的物质变换”。

In the construction of digital ecological civilization, digital technology helps to bridge the urban-rural gap and ecological divide caused by the rupture of material interchange, promoting the equalization of urban and rural ecological public services. Regarding rural construction, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized, “The rural environment directly affects the rice bag, the vegetable basket, the water tank, and the back garden of towns,” and we must “build livable, workable, and beautiful villages.” [24]24 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Central Rural Work Conference,” December 28, 2020. Through the implementation of the “Five-Year Action Plan for the Improvement and Enhancement of the Rural Human Settlement Environment (2021–2025),” China has gradually resolved long-standing environmental sanitation issues troubling villagers, such as rural sewage and waste treatment, thereby assisting rural ecological governance. Regarding urban construction, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Urban construction should take nature as its beauty, integrating good mountains, good water, and good scenery into the city… We must vigorously carry out ecological restoration, allowing cities to once again see lucid waters and lush mountains.” [25]25 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Central Urban Work Conference,” December 20, 2015. Urban areas are creating low-carbon, livable urban ecological spaces through measures such as promoting new energy vehicles and implementing waste sorting. Digital technology empowers green equalization services, realizing the fair and reasonable distribution of ecological dividends in space.

在数字生态文明建设中，数字技术有助于弥合因物质变换断裂而导致的城乡差距和生态鸿沟，促进城乡生态公共服务均等化。对于农村建设，习近平总书记强调，“农村环境直接影响米袋子、菜篮子、水缸子、城镇后花园”,要“建设宜居宜业和美乡村”。我国通过《农村人居环境整治提升五年行动方案(2021—2025年)》的落地实施，逐步解决了农村污水、垃圾治理等长期困扰村民的环境卫生问题，助力乡村生态治理。对于城市建设，习近平总书记指出：“城市建设要以自然为美，把好山好水好风光融入城市……要大力开展生态修复，让城市再现绿水青山。”城市地区通过推广新能源汽车、实施垃圾分类等措施，打造低碳宜居的城市生态空间。数字技术赋能绿色均等化服务，实现生态红利在空间上的公平合理分配。

V. Potential Risks and Prevention in Digital Ecological Civilization Construction

五、数字生态文明建设的潜在风险及防范

In the historical evolution of the relationship between man and nature, science and technology have always been an important variable affecting changes in this relationship. Every innovative breakthrough in science and technology not only promotes the phased liberation of the human subject, continuously expanding the boundaries of human cognition and transformation of nature, but may also be alienated into a destructive force on the natural system, laying hidden dangers for ecological crises.

在人与自然关系的历史演进中，科学技术始终是影响这一关系变化的重要变量。科学技术的每一次创新突破，既推动着人类主体的阶段性解放，持续拓展人类对自然的认知与改造边界，同时也可能异化为自然系统的破坏性力量，埋下生态危机的隐患。

Since the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, the development of machine-based large-scale industry has liberated man from the ignorant state of “being cowed by nature like livestock,” driving the relationship between man and nature from passive adaptation to active utilization and then to an attempt to dominate. In this process, the natural ecosystem gradually became a tool for capital accumulation, and the relationship between man and nature became increasingly sharply antagonistic.

自18世纪工业革命以来，机器大工业的发展，使人从“像牲畜一样慑服于自然界”的蒙昧状态中解放出来，推动人与自然关系从被动适应到主动利用再到试图凌驾的跃迁。在此过程中，自然生态系统逐渐沦为资本增殖的工具，人与自然关系日益尖锐对立。

Engels profoundly revealed the short-sighted nature and anti-ecological essence of the capitalist mode of production. “In dealing with nature and society, people pay attention primarily only to the most immediate and most obvious results.” [26]26 Friedrich Engels, “The Part Played by Labour in the Transition from Ape to Man,” in Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 20, p. 519. However, “let us not, however, flatter ourselves overmuch on account of our human victories over nature. For each such victory nature takes its revenge on us.” [27]27 Ibid. The revenge of nature is not a “natural disaster” but a “man-made calamity” caused by the capitalist application of technology and the inherent contradictions of the capitalist mode of production. Therefore, Engels believed that “the great transformation of our century, the reconciliation of mankind with nature and of mankind with itself” [28]28 Friedrich Engels, “Outlines of a Critique of Political Economy,” in Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 1, p. 616. requires us to “learn to understand the laws of nature more correctly, and to recognize the more immediate or more remote consequences of our interference with the habitual course of nature.” [29]29 Engels, “The Part Played by Labour in the Transition from Ape to Man,” p. 520.

恩格斯深刻揭示出资本主义生产方式的短视特征与反生态本质。“面对自然界和社会，人们注意的主要只是最初的最明显的成果”,但是，“我们不要过分陶醉于我们人类对自然界的胜利。对于每一次这样的胜利，自然界都对我们进行报复”。自然界的报复并非“天灾”,而是由于技术的资本主义应用与资本主义生产方式内在矛盾而导致的“人祸”。因此，恩格斯认为，“我们这个世纪面临的大转变，即人类与自然的和解以及人类本身的和解”,为此，要“学会更正确地理解自然规律，学会认识我们对自然界习常过程的干预所造成的较近或较远的后果”。

When science and technology evolve to the stage of digital technology, the relationship between man and nature enters a new phase. However, this “newness” is not simply a progressive narrative of the man-nature relationship but is accompanied by more complex structural dilemmas caused by digital alienation, concentratedly manifested as: first, the expansion of digitalized “knowledge of nature” easily obscures the natural connection of the man-nature community of life. Second, cognitive misunderstandings such as “algorithm supremacy” and “data worship” easily deviate from the scientific understanding of the essential attributes of ecosystems. Third, risks such as “data silos” and “algorithmic black boxes” not only constrain the improvement of ecological governance effectiveness but also expose the relative lag in the supply of digital ecological civilization institutions, urgently requiring the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization.

当科学技术演进至数字技术阶段，人与自然关系便进入了新阶段。然而，这种“新”并非简单的人与自然关系的进步叙事，而是伴随着因数字异化而导致的更为复杂的结构性困境，集中表现为：其一，数字化“自然知识”的膨胀，易遮蔽人与自然生命共同体的天然联结。其二，“算法至上”“数据崇拜”等认知误区易偏离对生态系统本质属性的科学认知。其三，“数据烟囱”“算法黑箱”风险不仅制约着生态治理效能的提高，更暴露出数字生态文明制度供给的相对滞后性，亟须习近平生态文明思想的科学指导。

1. Strengthening the Connection of the Man-Nature Community of Life

1.增强人与自然生命共同体的联结

Digital technology, through methods such as satellite remote sensing and drone patrols, constructs an all-domain real-time perception network for natural ecosystems, expanding the depth and breadth of cognition of ecosystems and improving the effectiveness of ecological governance. However, the relationship of the man-nature community of life also faces the risk of being dissolved in the process of digital cognition.

数字技术通过卫星遥感、无人机巡查等方式，构建起对自然生态系统的全域实时感知网络，拓展了对生态系统的认知深度与广度，提高了生态治理效能。然而，人与自然生命共同体关系也会在数字化认知中面临被消解的风险。

When the various elements of the natural ecosystem are transformed into modelable, computable data and information, and the ecosystem is dominated by the logic of capital, this expansion of digitalized “knowledge of nature” leads to the emotional connection between man and nature and man’s reverence for nature being drowned out by a series of abstract numbers. General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed that “man and nature are a community of life,” that “mountains, waters, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts are a community of life,” and that “the Earth is a community of life,” emphasizing that the relationship between man and nature is by no means a digital reduction of subject to object, but a harmonious and symbiotic community of life. At the same time, from a broader perspective, General Secretary Xi Jinping regards the harmonious coexistence of man and nature as a fundamental consideration for a form of civilization, first proposing the “theory of the rise and fall of ecological civilization” and that “ecological civilization is the historical trend of human civilization development,” [30]30 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection,” May 18, 2018. elevating the importance of the ecosystem for human survival and development to the strategic height of civilizational continuity. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization reshapes the value connection between man and nature with the concept of a community of life and the perspective of civilizational continuity, providing value guidance for correcting the insufficient reverence for the man-nature community of life brought about by digital technology.

当自然生态系统各要素转化为可建模、可计算的数据信息，生态系统被资本逻辑支配时，这种数字化“自然知识”的膨胀，就会导致人与自然的情感连接与人对自然的敬畏之心被一系列抽象数字所淹没。习近平总书记提出“人与自然是生命共同体”“山水林田湖草是生命共同体”和“地球生命共同体”,强调人与自然之间绝不是主体对客体的数字化还原，而是和谐共生的生命共同体。同时，在更广阔的视野上，习近平总书记将人与自然的和谐共生作为一种文明形态的基本考量，首次提出“生态文明兴衰论”“生态文明是人类文明发展的历史趋势”,将生态系统对人类生存发展的重要性提升到文明存续的战略高度。习近平生态文明思想以生命共同体理念、文明存续视野重塑了人与自然的价值联结，为矫正数字技术带来的对人与自然生命共同体敬畏不足提供了价值引领。

2. Enhancing the Scientific Understanding of the Essential Attributes of Ecosystems

2.提高对生态系统本质属性的科学认知

The digital presentation of ecosystems through big data and algorithmic models has greatly expanded the efficiency boundaries of ecological governance. However, it must be cautioned that many complex connections within ecosystems—such as the deep ecological relationships behind biodiversity and the abrupt linkages among various ecological elements—cannot be fully captured by digital modeling or precise quantification. When people become accustomed to understanding nature through algorithmic models, they easily fall into the cognitive trap of "algorithm supremacy" and "data worship," resulting in a cognitive gap regarding the essential attributes of ecosystems. This epistemological "vacuum of essential cognition" may be more insidious than the "disenchantment of nature" [31]31 "Disenchantment of nature" (自然的祛魅) refers to the process in modern industrial civilization where nature is stripped of mystery, meaning, and intrinsic value, reduced to a mere object for scientific analysis and instrumental exploitation, a concept associated with Max Weber. characteristic of the industrial civilization era. Because it masks cognitive one-sidedness under the guise of scientific algorithms, it can easily lead to cognitive biases and misjudgments in ecological governance.

大数据、算法模型对生态系统的数字化呈现，极大地拓展了生态治理的效率边界。但需要警惕的是，生态系统中的诸多复杂联系，如生物多样性背后的深层生态关联、生态各要素间的突变性联系，是无法完全被数字建模或精准量化的。当人们习惯于通过算法模型认识自然时，很容易陷入“算法至上”“数据崇拜”的认知陷阱，形成对生态系统本质属性的认知缺位。这种认识论层面的“本质认知空场”可能比工业文明时代“自然祛魅”的危害更加隐蔽。因为它以科学算法的外观掩盖认知片面性，容易导致认知偏差与生态治理误判。

General Secretary Xi Jinping has consistently adhered to a systematic approach in advancing ecological civilization construction, emphasizing: "We must take into overall consideration all elements of the natural ecosystem" and "seek new governance approaches from the perspective of systems engineering and the overall situation... we must act with overall planning, integrated measures, and multiple approaches, carrying out ecological civilization construction in all respects, across all regions, and throughout all processes." [32]32 Xi Jinping, "Speech at the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection" (May 18, 2018). This systematic thinking transcends the cognitive limitations of digital reductionism and algorithm-centrism, warning us that understanding nature cannot stop at the surface of data, and provides a fundamental guideline for deeply grasping the overall interconnections and inherent laws of ecosystems.

习近平总书记始终坚持以系统思维开展生态文明建设，强调：“要统筹考虑自然生态各要素”,“要从系统工程和全局角度寻求新的治理之道……必须统筹兼顾、整体施策、多措并举，全方位、全地域、全过程开展生态文明建设”。这种系统论思维超越了数字还原论、算法中心主义的认知局限，警示我们认识自然不能仅停留于数据表象，为深入把握生态系统的整体关联与内在规律提供了根本遵循。

3. Improving the institutional system for safeguarding ecological and environmental security

3.完善保障生态环境安全的制度体系

The deep embedding of digital technology in ecological and environmental governance, while enhancing governance efficiency, also generates multiple structural risks due to uneven development. Because of the imbalance in digital technology development among different localities and departments, blind spots that hinder collaborative governance can easily form in ecological governance, impeding scientific decision-making, and causing technical security risks such as the leakage of important ecological data, including sensitive resource information. These risks not only constrain the improvement of ecological governance efficiency but also expose the relative lag in the institutional supply of digital ecological civilization.

数字技术深度嵌入生态环境治理，在提升治理效能的同时也因发展的不平衡催生了多重结构性风险。由于各地方、各部门之间数字技术发展不平衡，在生态治理中容易形成阻碍协同治理盲区，妨碍科学决策，以及造成敏感资源信息等重要生态数据泄露等技术安全风险。这些风险不仅制约着生态治理效能的提高，更暴露出数字生态文明制度供给的相对滞后性。

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "Ecological and environmental security is an important component of national security." [33]33 Xi Jinping, "Speech at the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection" (May 18, 2018). To this end, it is necessary to strengthen the adaptive innovation of the digital ecological civilization institutional system to prevent ecological and environmental security risks arising from technological risks. General Secretary Xi Jinping explicitly proposed the establishment of an "ecological culture system," "ecological economic system," "target responsibility system," "ecological civilization institutional system," and "ecological security system." [34]34 These five systems were outlined in Xi Jinping's speech at the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection (May 18, 2018) as the framework for ecological civilization. We must persist in deepening the reform and improvement of the ecological civilization institutional system and basic institutions, accelerate the improvement of the institutional mechanisms for implementing the concept that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets," [35]35 "Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" (绿水青山就是金山银山) is a signature concept of Xi Jinping, first articulated in 2005, emphasizing that ecological protection is a form of economic value. and improve the basic institutions of ecological civilization; strengthen the governance of artificial intelligence, and improve relevant laws and regulations, policy systems, application norms, and ethical standards. At the same time, based on the practical needs of digital ecological civilization construction, and on the foundation of existing legal systems such as the "Data Security Law of the People's Republic of China," we must adhere to the leadership of the Party, accelerate institutional innovation in areas such as ecological data security and digital ecological governance standards, and build a digital ecological civilization institutional system that is comprehensive, scientifically standardized, and effectively operational.

习近平总书记强调，“生态环境安全是国家安全的重要组成部分”。为此，要加强数字生态文明制度体系的适应性创新，防止由技术风险带来的生态环境安全风险。习近平总书记明确提出建立“生态文化体系”“生态经济体系”“目标责任体系”“生态文明制度体系”和“生态安全体系”。我们要坚持深化生态文明制度体系和基础体制的改革与完善，加快完善落实“绿水青山就是金山银山”理念的体制机制、完善生态文明基础体制；加强人工智能治理，完善相关法律法规、政策制度、应用规范、伦理准则。同时，根据数字生态文明建设的现实需要，在《中华人民共和国数据安全法》等已有法律制度的基础上，坚持党的领导，加快推动生态数据安全、数字生态治理标准等方面的制度创新，构建系统完备、科学规范、运行有效的数字生态文明制度体系。

Conclusion

结 语

Against the backdrop of the deep integration of ecological civilization construction and digital technology, China's ecological governance paradigm is undergoing a systematic transformation. Digital ecological civilization, as an important theoretical and practical form of this transformation process, takes Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization as its fundamental guideline, providing ideological direction for the correct application of digital technology; at the same time, it fully unleashes the empowering advantages of digital technology, enabling Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization to be effectively implemented on the ground, which is of great significance for advancing the modernization of the ecological governance system and governance capacity, and for building a Beautiful China.

在生态文明建设与数字技术深度融合的时代背景下，我国生态治理范式正发生系统性变革。数字生态文明作为这一变革进程的重要理论与实践形态，以习近平生态文明思想为根本遵循，为数字技术的正确运用提供思想指引；同时，充分释放数字技术赋能优势，使习近平生态文明思想落地见效，对于推进生态治理体系和治理能力现代化、建设美丽中国具有重要意义。