Event to chart green path for growth

Haze, air and water pollution and food security will come into focus at a State-level conference next week in Guiyang, the capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province.

The Eco-Forum global 2014 conference, aimed at promoting sustainable development and green transformation, will be held from July 10-12.

Zhang Xinsheng, secretary-general of the Eco-Forum global, said the forum will deal with core public concerns and discuss issues such as widespread haze, security of water and food and other environmental protection and ecological security issues.

The conference, aimed at seeking a green path for the nation and the world and promoting a green transformation, will focus on major issues including sustainable development and lifting people out of poverty, inclusive growth of society, environmental protection and ecological security, global governance and value orientation.

Vice-President Li Yuanchao will attend the opening ceremony.

Several heads of state and government leaders have also confirmed that they will attend, including Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome and Prime Minister Joseph Muscat of Malta.

Ecological civilization is not only a critical part of environmental protection, it must be combined with cultural and economic construction, said Zhang.

The Eco-Forum global is a non-governmental platform, but it has been authorized by the central government as a State-level international summit focusing on ecological civilization.

It releases a consensus document each year aimed at promoting green transformation.

More than 1,000 participants will attend this year's conference, including government officials and those from industry, academia, the media and other sectors. And more than 40 forums will be held in various forms including closed-door events, breakfasts and luncheons, dialogues and TV debates.

Guizhou has its own ecological advantage as the upstream of two major rivers, while Guiyang is a less-developed region that is stepping up efforts to achieve a green transformation, said Zhang.

Environmental protection and ecological security are major concerns for China. Government management and protection of the environment are not sufficient and the solution lies in respecting the laws of nature and protecting nature, said Zhang.

"We need to rethink the industrialization of the past 200 years. It has created enormous wealth, but we need to rethink the losses that it also caused," he said.

Raising public awareness of sustainable development is also important. Everyone could make a contribution to the environment by using less electricity and water or using bicycles more often.

People purchase something almost every day, but it's worth thinking how to consume in a sustainable way; for instance, saying "no" to unnecessary packages and luxury goods, he said.

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