October 18-19, 2019 will witness the Inauguration Ceremony of the Ecological Civilization Center of Peking University’s Research Institute of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era in Beijing, China. The Secretary-General of China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) Dr. Zhou Jinfeng, and co-author of “The Limits to Growth” (1972, 1992, 2004), professor emeritus of climate strategy at the BI Norwegian Business School Prof. Jorgen Randers will co-chair the newly inaugurated center.

“Developing Ecological Civilization and building a beautiful China” has been written into the Chinese Constitution. Ever since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, which put forward this ideology for the first time, Ecological Civilization has been integrated into almost every aspect of economic, political, cultural and social development. Because to contribute to the global ecological security embodies the consolidation of China’s value, objective and roadmap, and under the background of the new urbanization strategy and rural revitalization, Ecological Civilization has become even more crucial for China’s high-quality development. Therefore, in order to further promote Ecological Civilization, CBCGDF, the Institute of Modern Urban-Rural Development Planning of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and Huaxia Tongping Company Ltd., have agreed to establish the Planning Center of Ecological Civilization.

CBCGDF is one of the first 16 charity organizations and public offering foundations since the implementation of the new Charity Law on September 1st, 2016. And under Dr. Zhou Jinfeng’s leadership, who is an active promoter, practitioner and researcher of Biodiversity Conservation, Sustainable Development and Ecological Civilization, CBCGDF has been playing a leading role in studying, promoting and popularizing Ecological Civilization both inside and outside China. For instance, Dr. Zhou Jinfeng has pioneered the “Community Conservation Area” system to facilitate biodiversity conservation and the preservation of natural landscape, resources and cultural heritage. He is equally devoted to the promotion of green development. For instance, Dr. Zhou Jinfeng has published series researches on Green Finance, and the Green Meeting Index (T/CGDF 00001-2019) standard and the Green Campus Standard (T/CGDF 00002-2019) for encouraging sustainable development in the exhibition industry and universities, respectively. He is also an unrelenting champion of sustainable eating and the Good Food initiative. Taking advantage of rich work experience and extensive case study of grassroots Ecological Civilization construction, he intelligently combines, develops and interprets China’s Ecological Civilization along the lines of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He supervises specialized research projects on the Belt and Road initiative and Ecological Civilization, following the national call of engaging more deeply in global environmental governance.

Prof. Jorgen Randers is professor emeritus of climate strategy at the BI Norwegian Business School, where he works on climate and energy issues, scenario analysis and system dynamics. He lectures and advises widely all over the world for corporate and non-corporate audiences. Prof. Jorgen Randers is a world-renowned futurist. He co-authored “The Limits to Growth” in 1972 and its sequels in 1992 and 2004. In 2012, he published “2052—A Global Forecast for the Next Forty Years”, which is now available in 8 languages in 150000 copies.

It is firmly believed that Dr. Zhou Jinfeng and Prof. Jorgen Randers will spare no effort in developing the four primary modules of the Planning Center of Ecological Civilization, on the Auditorium of Ecological Civilization, the Planning of Ecological Civilization, Expert Commission of Ecological Civilization and Green Industry Alliance of Ecological Civilization. They will also aim to develop the center into a leading domestic base for Ecological Civilization with significant international influences.

For more details on the Inauguration Ceremony of the Ecological Civilization Center of Peking University’s Research Institute of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, please refer to CBCGDF’s official website and other social media platforms later, which will further report the most up-to-date information of this memorable occasion.

By / Lu Lei