On Jun 5th, International Student Conference on Environment and Sustainability, hosted by Tongji University and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and undertaken by UNEP-Tongji Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development (IESD), opened ceremoniously in Tongji University on the World Environmental Day. On the opening ceremony, nearly 400 young students from more than 35 countries and well-known specialists and scholars came together to discuss the latest topics, innovative technologies and creative ideas on environment and sustainable development.
On the opening ceremony, Prof. Wang Guangtao, Chairman of Environment Protection and Resources Conservation Committee of National People's Congress of China, Chairman of the Advisory Board of IESD, Prof. Li Yongsheng, Executive Vice President of Tongji University, Dr. Young-Woo Park, UNEP Regional Director and Rep. for Asia Pacific, Prof. Yin Jie, Deputy Director of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (SMEC), and Mr. Fu Guoqing, Director of International Cooperation Division of Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission (SMSTC) delivered their welcome remarks. Mr. Achim Steiner, Undersecretary General of UN and Executive Director of UNEP also conveyed his video address. Dr. Klaus Toepfer, Former Undersecretary General of UN, Former Executive Director of UNEP, Honorary professor of Tongji University and Prof. Zhang Guoguang, Administrator of China Meteorological Administration (CMA) delivered a keynote speech on Climate Change and Sustainable Developent and Towards the Low-carbon Society respectively. Prof. Wu Jiang, Vice President of Tongji University, chaired the opening ceremony. Besides, the Awarding Ceremony of 2011 Klaus Toepfer Environmental Scholarship was a shining point on the opening ceremony.
As one of the most significant outcomes, Global Youth Tongji Declaration on Environment and Sustainability was released on the closing ceremony on Jun 8th, 2011. The Declaration emphasized that “The Conference at Tongji University was an optimal platform to promote the important role of youth in large-scale decisions. As such, we wish to see conferences of this kind continued on an annual basis” and “This declaration connects to the 2012 Rio+20 Conference”, etc.
On the closing ceremony, the winners of TOP 9 posters were presented with the certificates by Prof. WU Jiang, Vice President of Tongji University.
