I am honoured to be asked by my friend Jinfeng Zhou and CBCGDF to make this presentation.

I am not a scientist, But as an observer of geopolitical cooperation and non-cooperation I want to address my remarks today to the vitally important opportunity that exists for China in helping to lead the world away from the brink of a cataclysm that is today’s Climate Crisis. In strengthening International trust and collaboration And in using global Science and Technology Cooperation as a new common driver for humanity.

These thoughts are also based on the 25 years of mentorship from the late Maurice Strong – Climate and Sustainability activist half a Century ago. A great leader of civilization. A firm believer in science and technology as a vital element in addressing development and environment issues. A committed Chinafile. And a mentor to both CBCGDF and to myself. 

The Climate Crisis has long been recognized as the greatest existential threat to humanity. And China has played a key leadership role in creating the Paris 1.5 Agreement for 2050 as the international solution.

There has also been significant International science cooperation over the years in this field – arguably more than in any other. Science based solutions have become the entry point for all climate discussions, at any national, regional or international gathering. The IPCC - the global Scientific collective – has been issuing Blue Ribbon Reports on which climate decisions are made for 30 years. Its first was in 1990 just in time for Strong’s Rio earth Summit in 1992And that is in fact a reason to look today for an intensification of scientific collaboration in this field. 

The IPCC has recently stated that we are close to 1.2 degrees already of the 2050 target of 1.5 degrees. And if carbon emissions continue at the present rate, we will hit 3-5 degrees more of global heating in the second half of this century. At that level human survivability and so much of our nature biodiversity is doomed. 

The reality of today is even more harsh than was foreseen some five short years ago in 2015, when the Paris Accord was framed.

This year will be the hottest ever in modern history. We are seeing crazy flooding here in China and in Europe; massive heatwaves and uncontrollable forest fires in Canada, The USA, Australia, Brazil and even Siberia – where the permafrost is melting. Dramatic Hurricanes in the Caribbean devastating whole islands. Drought and increasing climate refugees in Africa. And rapid melting of Polar Icecaps, with more flood devastation.

Only two things can save us. 

One Significantly increased discipline in human transformation away from a fossil fuel economy, with just and sharing solutions for, lifestyles, commerce, building, eating and travel. Following the governance principles of the Paris Accord and its race to Net Zero Carbon 2050. But at a greatly intensified pace focussing more on the period from the 

Glasgow Climate Summit at the end of this year through this decade to 2030 when our carbon trend has to be dramatically bent to be on a 1.5-degree trajectory. Taking advantage of every new technology. And investing money away from fossil fuel exploration subsidies towards new breakthrough technologies.

And this takes me to my second and central point. 

It’s in this context that we need to increase our science and technology research and collaboration – across nations and across sectors. We need a massive ramp up for Resilience.. We need to put aside old differences, to look for the positives in International cooperation and to change the tone of our global dialogue to one of trust and decency away from suspicion and accusation. We need to do this for our kids and for our grandkids.

If we should have learned anything from our recent past, it’s that natural threats like the sharp,  bitter thrust of Covid or the long drawn out terror of Climate, pose far greater challenges to our very existence than any of our man made differences.

In the macro-economic area we will need new technology for clean fuel – for solar, hydro, wind, hydrogen generation & carbon capture. New more powerful storage, going well beyond today’s lithium ion. New building design, materials and techniques – using robotics and 3D printing. New non meat food, recyclable plastics and low carbon waste disposal. Ideally turning it into clean fuel as is increasingly possible. New transportation with electric cars, planes and boats and drone freight delivery. 

In my own area of Travel & Tourism, where I have worked with the visionary Chinese leadership for more than 2 decades, and where your own coming of age as a Tourism superpower is today an amazing realty. Chinese Domestic Tourism now is three times the total International market. And you are rapidly becoming the leading tourism outbound market, as well as one of the top 5 inbound.

To meet the Paris goals, we will have to look to electric cars and trains, totally new sustainable aviation fuels – including hydrogen by the mid 30’s. To completely repurposed hotels with energy efficiency as a top priority, vertical gardens, and rewilding in our cities. Where so much of the pollution stems from. And we must play a leading role in a new global compact with nature to enhance biodiversity using tourist funds to support conservation. 

In this context, as in many others, China can and must play a global leadership position reaching out to other world leaders to show the strengths of your five thousand year old traditions, as well as the intense focus of your planning programs. 

It will be especially important to bring a sense of true collaboration to your Belt and Road strategies, which is setting the standards in developing countries and can bring a new positive dynamism to your near neighbour and South - South relationships, as we confront the common threat of horrendous climate disasters. 

Nowhere will this be more important than in Africa where the wildlife is a massive product USP and where the market of a billion young people will come into its own in the next decade as an economic force.

And this leads to my final comment. In this brave new world we are facing, it is the young people that will be the key. They will be tomorrow’s markets, tomorrow’s researchers, tomorrow’s leaders. They think and act  differently from our generation. They are more open, more collaborative, more science and technology literate. And they communicate incessantly. This is where we must all put our focus,

In SUNx Malta, the small Foundation that I run, supported by the Government of Malta, we are keeping our focus on this next generation.  In trying to bring Maurice Strong’s vision to promoting Climate Friendly Travel we are developing, with the Institute of Tourism Studies a transformation system tied to the UN 2030/2050 green and clean roadmap for humanity, which Maurice did so much to create. We are putting Resilience at the centre.

With a plan to have 100,000 Strong Climate Champions in place globally by 2030, I’m delighted to say that our partnership with CBCGDF here in China and for the Belt and Road countries is a centrepiece of our strategic planning. At its heart is our shared belief in the central importance of science and technology in the coming transformation. And of the vital importance of intensified global cooperation in this area. 

It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to work.

Contribution

https://www.paypal.me/CBCGDFChina

http://www.cbcgdf.org/English/ConfirmDonaTion/0.html