Welcome address
at
Opening ceremony of the High-level Forum
on
Ecosystem Management and Green Economy
Ding Zhongli, Vice President of Chinese Academy of Sciences
November 18, 2011, Beijing
Your excellencies,
UN Under Secretary General Mr. Achim Steiner,
President Yiyu Chen of National Science Foundation,
Vice Minister Ganjie Li of Environment Protection,
Professor Honglie Sun,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning!
Today, the High-level Forum on Ecosystem Management and
Green Economy is held here in Beijing.
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First of all, on behalf of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, I
would like to extend my warmest welcome to all distinguished guests
present at this meeting, and express my heartfelt thanks to the
United Nations Environment Programme, Ministry of Environment
Protection, National Science Foundation of China, Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and National Development and Reform Commission,
for your continuous and strong support to us!
Ecosystems are the basic components of the Earth system,
supporting the creation and development of human civilization. As
industrial civilization has evolved into a new historical era, we are
confronted with mounting conflicts between human society and
natural environment, marked by increasing pressure on environment,
natural resources and ecosystems. Therefore, the issue on how to
harmonize the relationship between man and nature has become the
common concern of all citizens of the Earth.
Strengthening ecosystem management can help maximize their
ecosystem
services
and
enhance
resilience
of
vulnerable
ecosystems. Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EBA) Strategy proposed
by IUCN, and the United Nations Programme on Reducing carbon
Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) are
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good examples of promoting ecosystem management.
This year, UNEP proposed the concept of “Green Economy,” to
explore alternative approaches for sustainable development and
poverty eradication. Ecosystem management is seen by many as
one of the most important approaches to realize a green economy.
Ladies and gentlemen,
China has a long history of pursuing harmonious development
between man and nature. Over the recent years, the Chinese
Government has targeted adoption of Scientific Outlook on
Development and advancement of ecological civilization. It has made
great efforts and achieved significant progress in transforming the
way of economic growth, stepping up efforts of environment
protection, and building a resource-saving and environmentally
friendly society. Examples of ecosystem conservation include
projects of: North China Shelter Forest, Grain for Green, and Logging
Ban on primary forest and soil and water conservation. As a result,
the trend of ecological deterioration has been halted, and ecological
conditions in some areas have been significantly improved.
As the national scientific research institution in China, the
Chinese Academy of Sciences attaches great importance on
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ecosystem restoration, soil and water conservation and biodiversity
protection. To date, CAS has developed the Chinese Ecosystem
Research Network (CERN) comprising 40 field stations, based on
which long-term monitoring and research on all types of ecosystems
are being conducted. CAS has also piloted and demonstrated
ecosystem restoration in fragile areas such as the Loess Plateau,
inner Mongolian desert, Karst area, Heihe and Tarim River Basins,
and the Three Gorges reservoir area of the Yangtze. The techniques
and good practices of these pilot projects have been applied in large
scale national ecosystem restoration programmes. In addition, CAS
has also made many breakthroughs in green manufacture
technologies such as clean Chrome salt production, green
nanotechnology for printing, clean coal combustion, and quality
control of car exhaustion.
Ladies and gentlemen:
We will be very pleased to share with other developing countries
through enhanced collaboration, advanced concepts, technologies
and management practices and experiences in the domain of
ecosystem management and green economy. Last year, CAS and
UNEP jointly initiated the International Ecosystem Management
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Partnership, or IEMP, which is a landmark initiative to strengthen
bilateral cooperation and exchange. In a short while, we will launch
this initiative. Here I would like to make three remarks to IEMP for its
future development.
Firstly, to function as a bridge. IEMP should clearly position
itself “in the South and for the South,” to introduce successful
experiences of developed countries on ecosystem management and
green economy to developing countries including China, to raise
public awareness of eco-environment protection; to help increase
capacity of decision-makers, scientists and practitioners; and
meanwhile, to collect and share good practices and experiences on
ecosystem management amongst all developing countries.
Secondly, to consolidate service-oriented mindset. IEMP is
a UNEP pogramme in China. It should provide technical support to
UNEP for its promotion of ecosystem management and green
economy, demonstrating the UN mandate to benefit human
wellbeing. With endorsement of relevant ministries of Chinese
Government, CAS, as the host of IEMP, will provide all essential
support for its further development.
Thirdly, to enhance capacity building. IEMP, as an open
platform, must accept scientists from other countries especially
developing countries to work together to make concrete progress on
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integration of data, modeling and policy setting for ecosystem
management, in order to build its capacity of providing services to
UNEP and developing countries.
Finally, I wish the Forum a complete success, and IEMP great
progress.
Thank you!
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