In the afternoon of November 8, Dr. Zhou Jinfeng, the Secretary-General of China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF), was invited to deliver a two-hour lecture on eco-civilization by the Schools of Humanities and Social Sciences. The lecture was themed "Ecological Civilization - The Inevitable Choice for Human Beings".
Dr. Zhou was appointed as a member of the CPPCC for the 9th, 10th, and 11th sessions, and he is the Vice-president of the World Green Design Organization, the member of IUCN World Commission Environmental Law and the member of the Club of Rome. With rich experience in the study and practice of Ecological Civilization, he has been invited by provincial and municipal government agencies to give lectures on the discussion of President Xi Jinping's thoughts on Ecological Civilization.
Dr. Zhou believes that youth is the generation who represent the future and hope of a state. Therefore, he always gives great attention to communication and exchange with college students. Over the past two years, he has shared views on the Ecological Civilization and the information of green development in numerous key universities, including Peking University, Tsinghua University, Renmin University of China, Zhejiang University, Southern University of Science and Technology, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Yale University and Georgetown University.
Before the lecture, Dr. Zhou showed up in the meeting hall and chatted with students to know better what information and background they are interested in. Then he introduced informative cases pertinent to the development of the era of Ecological Civilization, the characteristics of Eco-civilization and CBCGDF's efforts at practicing this important concept. He gave a clear and vivid description of the significance of the reality that China or even the world is entering into the era of Eco-civilization.
“If the long 4.5-billion history of the globe as compared to 24 hours, then the life span of dinosaur which was extinct in the Cretaceous period is only about 10 minutes. According to the current trend, I don't think the living condition for human beings would be better than the dinosaur. The Sixth Mass Extinction is different from the previous five ones that all triggered by natural disasters as it is caused by humans: the over-development of one species negatively interferes with other species around the world, and the extinction rate is breaking the record." Dr. Zhou Jinfeng mentions that we are at the crossroad of the sixth Mass Extinction. To stop the trend of species extinction, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was signed at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992. Compared with the Primitive Civilization, Agricultural Civilization, and Industrialized Civilization, Ecological Civilization is an inevitable choice for the whole world.
The hour-and-half lecture aroused students’ interests. Students raised questions on the relation between poverty relief and ecological conservation, the role of zoo in biodiversity conservation, and pangolin protection.
Dr. Zhou stressed that we are in the transform from Industrialized Civilization to Eco-civilization. Many viewpoints and practices are still developed and carried out under the influence of Industrialized Civilization. Poverty alleviation, for instance, should be combined with the concept of ecological compensation. The unsustainable use of pangolin and its part is also formed in the traditional Industrialized Civilization. In short, it is high time for the young generation to broaden horizons and make changes step by step, thus advancing the development of the Eco-civilization era.
(Photo credit: CBCGDF)
Original Chinese article:
http://www.cbcgdf.org/NewsShow/4854/10389.html
By / Wang Yanqing