[April 23, 2012]

NCKU Jade Mountain Forum Focuses on Sustainable Environment

National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), southern Taiwan, held the 2012 Jade Mountain Forum on Sustainable Environment April 19-20 to discuss the most pressing issues like climate change and bio-energy and call for greater attention to sustainable development of Planet Earth.

Nearly 300 scholars and experts from Canada, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Taiwan participated in the event in which 26 research papers were represented, according to Juu-En Chang, director of NCKU Sustainable Environment Research Center who organized the conference.

Minister Shu-Hung Stephen Shen of the Cabinet-level Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), Mayor Ching-te Lai of Tainan City, NCKU Executive Vice President Huey-Jen Jenny Su, Director Chang of NCKU Sustainable Environment Research Center, together with scholars attending in the orum, signed a Declaration of Jade Mountain urging people to pay attention to environmental sustainability.

Panel discussions were held on such topics as bio-energy resource, control of persistent pollutants, low-carbon city and environmental education, university-industry cooperation on environmental engineering in southern Taiwan, and climate change and water environment.

Huey-Jen Jenny Su NCKU, on behalf of NCKU President Hwung-Hweng Hwung, said at the opening ceremony that NCKU has made significant contribution to environmental protection in recent years as it has conducted global sustainable environmental studies and promoted university-industry cooperation in a bid to improve human life in this time of global climate crisis.

In line with EPA's policies of promoting sustainability and building low-carbon homeland, Minister Shen said he was pleased to learn that Tainan is one of the three cities that have initiated a program for building promising and healthy cities.

NCKU Magic School of Green Technology, a zero carbon building located at Tainan City, is the pride of Taiwan and NCKU has the momentum to lead Taiwan to achieve the goal of sustainable environment, said Shen.

Mayor Lai said he was honored to see Tainan City selected as one of the low-carbon cities that provide sustainable living environment to residents, and he promised to take into account suggestions and conclusions from the forum when he and his staff map city development policies.

The Jade Mountain Declaration was officially announced on the Mt. Jade by a scholar-team led by Director Chang on Earth Day, April 22.

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