SHENZHEN, China–(BUSINESS WIRE)–International experts from China, US, and other countries, urge to strengthen cooperation on biodiversity conservation and environment protection, so that more and more global cities are able to achieve high-quality green development, at a recent international symposium held at Dameisha Vanke Center in Shenzhen, an international metropolis in southern China.
The symposium entitled “‘Living’ City – Building a world-class eco-metropolis”, was co-organized by Shenzhen Foundation for International Exchange and Cooperation (SFIEC) and Paulson Institute Beijing Representative Office, and attracted around one hundred Chinese and foreign guests from government departments, international organizations, universities, think tanks, and enterprises.
“This event focuses on hot topics in important environmental fields, which is of great significance,” The Deputy Secretary-General of Shenzhen Municipal Government, Ren Yao said. “We should jointly discuss the promotion of high-quality development of green cities, explore the best and optimal path for biodiversity protection in super-large cities, and contribute wisdom and solutions to sustainable development.”
Wendy Paulson, Vice Chairman of the Paulson Institute and President of Bobolink Foundation, said in a video message that every city should strive to be a nature-friendly city. “We live on the same earth, and we should work together to build cities where people and nature coexist harmoniously.”
Ann Derwin, the Ireland’s Ambassador to China, who co-launched the “Ambassadors for Nature” initiative in July 2022, said in her video speech, “Our vision is to make this initiative a guide to action, to encourage us in the right direction, and to make our neighborhood more friendly to biodiversity.”
“In the field of environment protection, Shenzhen has achieved a lot already, such as the mangrove management and protection,” Wang Shi, chairman of SFIEC and founder of Vanke Group, said. “Next, we also hope to cooperate with the international experience of strengthening environmental protection technology to contribute to the protection of a better planet for mankind.”
During the round table discussion, many experts continued to share their experiences and exchange ideas.
“We are in the new era, and we also realize that we have encountered new challenges,” John MacKinnon, a British international biodiversity conservation expert said. “We need more people to participate, we need public education, and we need to clean our cities.”
According to professor Jian Liu, deputy director of School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, ”City planning is a coordination platform. We should listen to the appeals of biologists, botanists, and zoologists, and seek consensus in the process. Everyone should work together to create a world-class eco-friendly city.”
“Public participation always play an important role in terms of environment protection. We will strengthen international exchanges and cooperation, and continue to contribute to global eco-friendly cities construction,” Lin Zhentuan, an official of the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment, said.
During the discussion of “Business and Nature”, Rose Niu, Chief Conservation Officer of the Paulson Institute, pointed out that human social and economic activities are fundamentally dependent on natural capital, including biodiversity.
Representatives from enterprises such as Shenzhen Institute of Building Research, Shenzhen Capital Group, Nike, Tencent and BYD, shared their cases about how enterprises balance business development and environment protection to achieve high-quality sustainable development of green cities.
“What we protect together is the common home, and what we create together is the common future,” emphasized Li Dan, secretary-general of SFIEC, the co-organizer of the event. “SFIEC will work with more international partners to create a high-quality international exchange platform.”
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Lu Zhang
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E-mail: lu.zhang@encyclovision.com