The 2014 Macao International Environmental Co-operation Forum and Exhibition (2014MIECF) have scheduled nine brilliant talks by experts and scholars from around the world, to share their insights on environmental issues. At today´s opening ceremony, Professor Joseph Stiglitz, Recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Former Chief Economist of the World Bank, Honorary Doctor of Social Sciences of the University of Macau and Professor of the University of Columbia, gave a keynote speech entitled “A Future of Green Growth: Why Sustainability and Equity are Crucial for Saving the Environment”.
Prof. Stiglitz pointed out, at the beginning of his speech, that due to limited resources on Earth, the lack of these resources will lead to many social problems. In addition, environmental pollution may also have impact on the entire society. For instance, due to the concern on personal health, investors may be deterred from investing in places with bad environmental conditions. Therefore, all countries should aim at preventing the worsening of the pollution problem, so as to reduce its impact on the society and the economy.
He pointed out that, after the economic crisis in 2008 in the United States, it has been proved that the incessant pursuit of the GDP growth has not produced a sustainable economy, given that high GDP growth is not a real indicator of the results of a nation´s economic development, but is, on the contrary, a warning that unequal distribution is getting worse. He suggested that countries should abandon their old ways of thinking, by not blindly pursuit GDP growth at the expense of domestic environmental protection.
He proposed that, in addition to GDP, all aspects of the integrated indicators, such as employment rate, public health, the environmental situation of the country and the equitable distribution of resources should be taken into consideration, in order to get a true picture of the whole economy, given that, only with positive indicators in all aspects could sustainable economic development be achieved.
In the last part of his keynote speech, Prof. Stiglitz stressed that a good environment relies on good government policy. Therefore, he said that the government should play a leading role in establishing green incentives to encourage the green economy, so that enterprises, while concentrating on the development of their business, could also pay attention to the environmental issues. He also recommended that the governments should introduce environmental taxes, under which enterprises are required to pay taxes in the use of certain resources and that the investment taxes received therefrom be used as incentive funds to foster green economy, thus creating a virtuous circle, so that economic development and environmental protection could co-exist.
Green Sessions to Explore Business Opportunities in the Environmental Industry
After the opening ceremony and keynote speech, the Green Forum was held and focused on issues in relations to Green Transportation, Green Building, Water and Sewage Treatment. Experts and scholars from Australia, European Union, Hong Kong , Japan, Macao, Mainland China, Portugal, Singapore and the United Kingdom were invited to be the speakers.
The session on “Retroffiting for Industrial and Commercial Energy Efficiency – The Business Behind the Change” focused on how to reduce energy consumption. With the increasing demand for energy, how to cut costs, improve return on investments and the effective management of production resources have become important issues all over the world. Experts and scholars from Macao, Mainland China, Portugal, Singapore and the United Kingdom conducted in-depth discussion on this issue.
At the session entitled “Incentives and Innovation Behind Sustainable Transportation” , guests from the European Union, Hong Kong, Mainland China, Portugal and the United Kingdom explored the topics of innovative transportation systems, traffic development in different regions and shared new concepts and ideas on the developments towards zero-emission green transportation. In his speech, Mr. Vincent Piket, Head of Office of the European Union to Hong Kong and Macao, stressed that, in order to build a green transportation community, it is important to firstly raise public awareness and then, through the enactment of relevant law, achieve the ultimate goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Besides, it is necessary to rely on science and technology innovation, by exploring new technology and new energies to better develop the green economy, he said.
At the session on “The Future of Smart Building Design – Optimizing your Investment” , the focus was on the compatible features, technology, aesthetics and cost savings considerations involved in the design of practical buildings, as well as the use of environmentally friendly building materials and efficient maintenance methods. Speakers at this session come from Hong Kong, Macao, Mainland China, Malaysia and Singaporeand to provide references for the development of green construction.
Water problem is a matter of global concern. At the “Waste No More – Efficient Way Forward” session, experts and scholars from Australia, Macao, Mainland China, Portugal and Singapore explored how to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of a city´s water supply and sewage treatment systems and shared the advanced waste water treatment technology, commercial water consumption plan and water recycling methods used by different locations, as well as the relationship between water quality and health.
