Solutions to mine ecological restoration under the context of carbon

Under the background of carbon peak and carbon neutrality (“Double Carbon Targets”,DCT),the connotation of mine ecological restoration needs to be reinterpreted. The goal of mine ecological restoration includes at least three aspects under this new situation:the realization of the self-sustaining ability of the restored ecosystem,the positive succession reaching a new ecological balance,and the sustainable development of regional socio-economy. The basic means to achieve these goals is to focus on self-recovery and combine it with appropriate manual intervention. Thus,in this study,the changes and results of socio-economic and ecological patterns caused by carbon neutrality were analyzed systematically,from the perspective of the realization path of carbon neutrality. The results showed that the DCT would inevitably accelerate the arrival of the post-mining era,and ecological restoration would also be one of the most important tasks in the post-mining era. Moreover,the post-mining era also had the characteristics of longevity,arduousness and complexity. Practically,the destroyed land of mining area could be transformed into other land use types with usable value and reused,with the help of artificial guidance measurements such as land renovation,environmental renovation,industrial transformation,social transformation and landscape reconstruction. However,these measurements would play different roles in the realization of carbon neutrality goal. To promote or achieve this goal,it is considered to extend the measurements of mine ecological restoration,from the aspects of energy substitution,industrial substitution or upgrading,and the ecosystem service or function improvement. Therefore,the role and contribution of different measurements for mine ecological restoration was analyzed in the process of achieving the DCT. The order of contribution was energy substitution > energy saving and emission reduction > carbon sequestration and carbon sinks increasement. Finally,the new path of mine ecological restoration under the background of DCT target was proposed. The contents of new path proposed include ① Update the standards and norms,which may consist of one Directive plus N standards or norms aimed at different objects,different phases and different elements to meet the needs of carbon neutrality goals and improve the pertinence and applicability of the standards;② Reform the management mechanism,explore the policy for the temporary change of land use,clarify the property right of underground space,promote market mechanism for ecological restoration to achieve multimeasures and coordinate the promotion of ecological restoration;③ Innovate the technological system,apply classified policies,zoned control,graded treatment and stepped implementation,therefore,promote adaptive measures for emission reduction and long-term ecological sequestration in the whole process of ecological restoration.