Gro Harlem Brundtland | MIECF ‘Local, regional, national, and global, it’s all linked together’

Gro Harlem Brundtland

The 8th Macao International Environmental Co-operation Forum and Exhibition (MIECF), focused on solutions for clean air, concluded last Saturday..
The fair’s keynote speaker, Ms Gro Harlem Brundtland, the “mother of sustainable development” and former Prime Minister of Norway, suggested that Macau could “absolutely” implement the same measures that Norway did six years ago, and should think and act from a regional and global perspective in its solutions to curb air and environmental pollution.
Speaking to local media last Friday, Ms Brundtland detailed Norway’s successful experience in the implementation of electric cars and other aggressive environmental protection measures, which help reduce emissions and air pollution.
“Norway has the highest level of electric car [usage] in the world; it has more electric cars than Germany, and Germany is ten times bigger than us in populations,” she said proudly.
“But first of all, what is planned here […] public transportation in trains [Light Rail Transit] is the best. It’s not better to have electric cars when every individual citizen wants to own a car, it’s better to have public transportation as much as possible,” she stressed. “But people will still be using cars in certain circumstances. Then, they should be electric and operate on gasoline-based battery.”
The expert said that the widespread usage of electric cars has had a significant positive effect, but the improvement in air quality was also attributed to a stricter regulation on gasoline cars.
When discussing how to tackle Macau’s air pollution, she said there has to be regional cooperation.
“I know that there are plans to make Macau a green city, and generally, the Pearl River Delta is highly polluted, including Macau. Local, regional, national, and global, it’s all linked together. (…) Local is important, but we have to collaborate regionally, and globally in order to get good results,” she stressed.
The expert further suggested that there are too many cases of unregulated use of energy in China, but it can transform the use of coal to clean energies “much more quickly” as the technologies are “available and possible.”
“China doesn’t need to spend 30 years to get where Norway is, because now the technologies are available. (…) You don’t need to get through all the stages of changing technology, which we had to do. We had to regulate and force the industry to make changes. Now those changes have been made, so China can take up technologies and types of solutions already existing in the market, which China itself can produce and use,” she said. BY

MIECF 2015 draws over 9,600 visitors

The three-day MIECF, which concluded Saturday, attracted over 9,600 visitors, with an increase in the number of trade visitors compared to last year. According to the organizer, agreements of 28 co-operation projects were signed, and participants’ feedback indicated that “MIECF has successfully played its role as a green platform to promote regional and international development and co-operation.” A total of 296 green matching sessions were held at the business matching area; hosted buyers recommended by the event project manager participated in 1,149 business negotiation sessions. The “Green Public Day”, held on the last day of the event, attracted over 2,400 visitors, with over 500 teachers and students from 12 schools joining in. The next MIECF will take place from 31 March to 2 April 2016.