Environment | Expert calls for immediate action to create clean, compact cities

The 11th Macao International Environmental Co-operation Forum & Exhibition (MIECF) kicked off yesterday, with Chief Executive Chui Sai On officiating the opening ceremony.

The three-day event brings together more than 50 speakers from various countries and regions.   

The 2018 MIECF has an expo floor area of more than 16,900 square meters, and has attracted more than 490 exhibitors from 19 countries and regions to showcase products and solutions that curb air, water and soil pollution, as well as to build eco-cities.    

The exhibition will also organize business-matching sessions, including one for the Greater Bay Area of Macau, Hong Kong and Guangdong, as well as a session for government procurement.

There will also be a one-on-one meeting between representatives of the Pan-Pearl River Delta Region and green technology suppliers from the European Union.

In his opening speech, the CE reiterated that  Macau’s Five- Year Development Plan includes accelerating the construction of a livable city, strengthening environmental protection and encouraging green living.

Chui said that Macau would push for the development of a green economy and seize opportunities arising from China’s major national strategies.

He reiterated Macau’s status as a platform for commercial and trade cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, which will be beneficial in reinforcing environmental cooperation between international entities.

“Macau will take these opportunities to actively strengthen collaboration on environmental protection and to develop a green economy,” said Chui.

“We are dedicated to […] enhancing the environmental sector of the Pan-Pearl River Delta Region to “Go Global” and “Bring in Investments,” he added.

Christiana Figueres, the vice-chair of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, gave the event’s keynote speech on “Shaping of Eco-Cities for Inclusive Green Economy”.

Figueres – a former executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, who sits on the board of the ClimateWorks Foundation – emphasized in her address that urbanization is not only China’s greatest challenge but also one of the greatest trials of this century.

China has built 650 new cities since 1950, with its population projected to swell to two billion people by 2023.

Although the cities were vital drivers of economic growth, they faced difficulties in dealing with environmental issues such as water, air and noise pollution, in addition to traffic congestion and space limitations.

Figueres said there will be six billion people living in cities by 2050, mostly in Asia and Africa.

“We’re going to be having more high-density cities like Hong Kong. We’re going to be having mega cities like Tokyo, Jakarta and New Delhi, and certainly we’re going to be having more and more mega city clusters in China’s Pearl River Delta,” she said.

“It is no exaggeration to say that as Asia goes, the world goes – and certainly as cities in Asia go, so does the world.”

Although there is not yet a set definition of an eco-city, Figueres said that 60 percent of the infrastructure that the world needs has not yet been built.

“We have an opportunity in how we build that infrastructure, not just in the hardware of infrastructure cities, but also in software – the quality of life that we prepare in those cities,” she explained.

She said there is a need for urban transformation, as cities have become “crowded, polluted, congested and dehumanized,”  calling on participants to help build and create cities that are clean, compact, connected and well cared for.

She also advocated the removal of coal as the dominant source of energy and encouraged the use of renewables.

“That is why China is closing more than 100 coal plants in the cities in pursuit of blue skies. It’s also why Hong Kong is prioritizing renewable energy,” she said.

Figueres emphasized the importance of electric transport as part of an ongoing revolution, alongside investing in energy efficiency in public buildings and improving waste treatment.

“It [the industrial revolution] sacrificed both nature and, to an extent, our humanity.

Today, we have already collectively started the fourth industrial revolution […] this new revolution cannot sacrifice either nature or our humanity,” Figueres stressed.

“The decarbonization of the global economy is critical and is underway. However, as we decarbonize our urban space, we have to purposely rehumanize our development as well,” she concluded.

Figueres will hold an interactive session with the attendees today. It will cover potential ways in which to end cities’ reliance on carbon-intensive economy and consumption by promoting economic transformation.

She will also attend the event’s “Green Forum,” which features six panel sessions and one keynote speaker session. The sessions will address strategies and policies for the development of sustainable and resilient eco-cities, as well as the challenges related to their implementation.

There will also be a presentation on the opportunities resulting from the construction of green buildings as part of eco-city development, along with examples and approaches used by Portugal.

For the Pan-Pearl River Delta Region Session, MIECF has invited an official from the environmental sector in Sichuan Province, who will present the findings from his visits to Portugal and Germany as part of a regional delegation.

Experts from China and Europe will discuss the development of environmental protection and green technologies in different regions.