OVER-EXPLOITATION of natural resources and urbanization had
brought much pressure to bear on the human environment and constituted
a bottleneck to sustainable development, a conference was told yesterday.The
speaker was city Vice Mayor Zhuo Qinrui, at the opening of the Fifth
International Eco-City Conference, which runs from August 19 to
23. The conference will focus on various aspects of eco-city building
with environmental topics to be discussed at several symposiums."This
conference brings together not only scientific and technical experts
and social researchers but also decision makers of local governmental
authorities," said Veronique Ploco-Fichelet, executive director
of the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment.She said
that through exchanges of opinions and ideas all those involved
could help improve the human ecological environment.
Jiang Zhenghua, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the
National People's Congress noted that 47 percent of the world population
lived in cities. That number would increase by two percent a year
over 15 years, he said.He referred to China's rapid urbanization
since 1978. "Cities constitute the core issue of sustainable development.
When all people on earth have a consensus on the principles and
approaches of building eco-cities, we are on the way to realizing
sustainable development for mankind," Jiang said.Richard Register,
president of Eco-city Builders International, introduced the 400
delegates to the global campaigns of eco-city building. Li Wenhua,
president of the Ecological Society of China, told the conference
about China's practice in eco-city building and the direction the
country would go in the ecological area.The conference will draw
up a "Shenzhen Manifesto," which will serve as a guide for sustainable
urban development worldwide.
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