The United Nations development programme recently released the latest human development report, which includes an experimental new perspective in the annual human development index, that is, two new indicators in the "earth pressure adjusted human development index": carbon dioxide emissions and "material footprint" of countries.

The human development index has been used to measure the public health, education and living standards of various countries. Now, a new dimension has been added to measure it, which shows that there has been a new change in the criteria for judging human development and progress, that is, defining people's well-being and relieving the pressure of the earth as the core goals of human development and progress. The report clearly points out that as human beings and the earth enter a new geological era, all countries should take responsibility for the dangerous pressure exerted by human beings on the earth and make changes.

Historical experience shows that crisis is often the background for reflection. The adjustment of human development index reflects human reflection and change under the crisis. "Novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak, global warming and high inequality" have been the key to human development. We must take environmental factors as one of the dimensions of development and progress, as we can not ignore the impact of carbon footprint and consumption footprint on the earth, "Achim Steiner, director of the United Nations Development Programme, said.

The relationship between man and nature is related to the future of mankind. A recent environmental study published in the British journal Nature warned that 2020 will mark the turning point for the first time when the quality of man-made creatures exceeds the living biomass. At the beginning of the 20th century, the mass of man-made materials was about 3% of the total biomass. In the past 100 years, the quality of man-made objects such as buildings, roads and machines has doubled every 20 years. According to current trends, the mass of man-made materials is expected to exceed 3 megatons in 2040, while the global total biomass is about 1.1 megatons today. The results show that the balance between the living biomass and the quality of man-made things has changed, which has to arouse people's vigilance.

"Man and nature are a community of life. Human beings must respect, conform to and protect nature. Only by following the laws of nature can human beings effectively prevent detours in the development and utilization of nature. The harm of human beings to nature will eventually hurt human beings. This is an irresistible law. " The concept of Chinese interpretation profoundly enlightens the world. The construction of global ecological civilization in the post epidemic era is a common task faced by all countries in the world. The human development report predicts that coexistence with nature will become the next frontier of human development. It believes that carbon intensive industries will be difficult to continue to promote human development, and provides forward-looking and urgent policy suggestions for countries.

More and more people of insight in the international community feel that the overall response to global challenges such as climate change and economic recovery requires countries to gather a consensus on the concept that "human and nature are a community of life" and seek sustainable development in the harmonious coexistence of human and nature. U.N. Secretary General Guterres said that the turning point of the protracted war on climate change may be in 2021. Can this expectation be realized? People's attention is focused on a series of important international conferences in 2021, hoping that all parties can promote global environmental governance by pooling wisdom and efforts.

It is very important to understand the world at the height of "human and nature are the community of life". Only in this way can we effectively increase the efforts to deal with climate change, further promote the transformation of clean energy, and build an ecosystem that respects nature. All countries should act from the perspective of long-term interests, seek common development, implement green commitments and promote sustainable development.

Source: People's daily