President of Tsinghua University: The next decade is a critical period in human history and will determine whether a zero-carbon future can be achieved

BEIJING, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- "The next decade is a critical period in human history, which will determine whether we can achieve a zero-carbon future," Said Qiu Yong, President of Tsinghua University, at the Global Youth Zero-Carbon Future Summit and the Third World University Climate Change Alliance Graduate Forum (hereinafter referred to as the Summit) at the award ceremony, young people are the backbone of this goal.

Qiu Yong pointed out that it is for this reason that the World University Climate Change Alliance upgraded the Graduate Student Forum to the Global Youth Zero Carbon Future Summit this year. After more than four months and more than 100 conferences, the strength of member universities in nine countries on six continents has been brought together to help the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) successfully held.

Nick Bridge, Special Representative for Climate Change at the British Foreign Office, pointed out that the world economy and society need to achieve a comprehensive transformation of the energy system and financial system to achieve the integration of climate adaptation, nature and cities to varying degrees. Universities need to explore innovative ways to meet the real needs of the world of the future and the challenges of the whole system.

Nicholas Stern, Chair of the Academic Committee of the World University Climate Change Alliance and Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, reviewed the goals and strong global agenda set out in the Paris Agreement reached at Cop21 and noted that Cop26 was a good time to implement it. He stressed that themes such as nature, health and biodiversity are closely related to climate change, and that this common crisis requires us to first think about it to understand its essence, to make a voice and to act.

Professor Anthony Leswitz, Director of the Yale University Climate Communication Program, said that education, communication and public engagement are essential in the face of the complex issue of climate change. He also described Cop26's focus on funding to promote resilience for vulnerable groups to withstand climate change.

The summit was hosted by the World University Climate Change Alliance, initiated by Tsinghua University, hosted by the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London, and co-organized by Columbia University, Yale University, Oxford University and Tsinghua University. In response to the global trend of carbon neutrality and the historical mission of youth, the Secretariat of the Alliance first proposed to upgrade the World University Postgraduate Forum, which has been successfully held for two sessions, to the Global Youth Zero Carbon Future Summit, which was positively responded to by the member universities of the Alliance. Among them, the core activities of the summit composed of "Academic Track", "Sound Track" and "Action Track" attracted nearly 400 young people from six continents around the world to submit works. In addition, the summit included 12 "Independent Contributions to The Alliance" organized by the seven member universities and two "Partner Contribution Activities" organized by the Alliance's partners.

After the preliminary evaluation, more than 70 young researchers stood out and entered the five theme forums organized by the host university for results reporting and re-evaluation. In the end, 10 graduate students won the "Best Paper" award in the academic track. (End)

Source: China News Network