Eco Forum Global calls for green innovation
- By Zhang Junmian
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E-mail China.org.cn, June 27, 2015
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| The sub-forum Global Eco-security and Green Innovation was held at the ongoing 2015 Eco Forum Global Annual Conference in Guiyang, capital of Guizhou Province, on June 25, 2015. [Photo by Zhang Junmian/China.org.cn] |
Eco-civilization stakeholders stressed on June 26 the importance of green innovation in ensuring global eco-security and sustainable development at a themed sub-forum of the ongoing 2015 Eco Forum Global Annual Conference in Guiyang, capital of Guizhou Province.
At the sub-forum “Global Eco-security and Green Innovation,” participating experts, government officials, corporation CEOs and opinion leaders from home and abroad agreed that innovative mechanisms, ideas and models should be adopted to combat the global ecological crisis.
The sub-forum highlighted three high-end conversations: “Ecological Crisis Throes and Transformation Road,” “The Urban and Rural-Ecological Game of Green Development,” and “New Normal, New Model and New Future.”
“Eco-civilization development concerns Chinese people’s welfare and the nation’s future,” said Yin Yanlin, an official from the Office of the Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs of China.
Yin said: “We should establish an institutional system to prevent pollution from the source, ensure stringent supervision and enforce severe punishments for violations. This is the way to make sure eco-civilization development is protected by law, standardized and systematized.”
The ecological crisis is a result of [human’s] long-term impact [on environment], and people often neglect it in the short term, according to Zhang Shigang, the United Nations Environment Programme Representative in China.
“That is why we should strongly call for awareness of the ecological crisis,” he added.
“The value of the ecological system and its role in serving our [social and economic] development have been underestimated or even ignored for a long time,” Zhang said. In this sense, China’s eco-civilization initiative is of great importance for the rehabilitation and protection of the ecosystem and increasing people’s awareness of the value of the ecosystem.
“The UN has proposed the new concept of bio-diversity and service value of ecosystems and we are happy to see that it has been endorsed by a number of countries including China.”
Zhang said it is also important to invest more in natural capital through ecological financing. Public capital can also be utilized as a way to attract more private capital to protect and recover natural capital. This will help promote China’s eco-civilization development.
For those still living in rural areas, it is important to improve their housing conditions, as well as improve infrastructure and services, so that they can enjoy modern services in a well-preserved natural environment, according to Zhang Zhenshan, director of the UN-Habitat Representative Office in China.
Technology innovation is also an important approach to secure green growth. Chen Liang, a senior specialist of Ali Research under the Alibaba Group, believes that the development of the Internet has created great potential for green ecology and the green economy.The e-commerce industry, which is highly customer-oriented, makes industrial production more efficient with less waste of resources. The online shopping model also helps build a low-carbon lifestyle and makes it possible for everybody to become engaged in public welfare and environmental protection, according to Chen.
Hans Friederich, director general of the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR), offered another possibility for development of green economy.
Bamboo, a fast-growing plant, will help increase rural incomes and combat global climate change. Currently, the global market for bamboo and rattan is worth about US$60 billion, but many countries that grow bamboo and rattan are yet to include their unique economic and ecological values into their national green economy development strategy, according to the INBAR’s statistics.
More than 1,000 guests from around the world have gathered at this year’s forum to share their views and insights on shaping the global, regional and industry agendas and actions for greener growth and sustainable development.
The Eco Forum Global Annual conference is an independent, non-profit international organization established in 2009. It is the only national forum for fostering sustainable development and eco-civilization in China.
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