On June 5th, World Environment Day, the 6th annual SEE Ecology Awards (SEE生态奖) was held in Beijing. Award recipients included Chai Jing, the Environmental Protection Education Center of Shandong (山东省环境保护宣传教育中心), and Friends of Nature. Awards were granted to individuals and organizations that have recently taken actions to make a positive environmental change.
Famous Chinese economist, Wu Jinglian, was also present at the Awards. He gave a short speech at the event that made some suggestions about what China and the public can do to help deal with environmental problems. He stated in his speech that the environmental issues that China is facing right now are closely related to China’s growing pattern and economic developing models. To solve these environmental problems, we need to change and adapt to a different economic developing model. According to Wu Jinglian, China’s economic growth has been heavily dependent upon exhausting natural resources and the environment. To really solve China’s environmental crisis, China needs to change to a new economic model. Wu also said that raising awareness in communities and educating people to participate in daily environmentally friendly practices are crucial to making positive changes.
