Green Long March 2010 Focuses on Regional Solutions to Climate Change
Gold Coast Route, GLM 2009 - Community mapping of green energy successes
Beijing - Across China, 42 university environmental groups will expand best practices to address climate change as part of the 2010 Green Long March.
Student environmental groups will:
- Study the impacts of climate change upon ecosystems and livelihoods along the seven routes of the Green Long March
- Identify best practices to address a climate change challenge in their region
- Extend a best practice to at least one new community through a Green Seed Award project
Students also will raise awareness on campus and disseminate lessons at the new China Forum for Nature, a prestigious, high-level forum that has been endorsed by the China Ministry of the Environment and the State Forestry Administration.
With this focus, the 2010 March will broaden awareness of regional climate change issues and solutions that can be implemented at the community level. For instance, along the Gold Coast Route, supported by Gold Level Sponsor Swire Pacific Ltd., students may focus on projects to protect coastal mangrove forests, which buffer communities from storms and provide critical habitat for fisheries.
Solutions to climate change can be classified into three approaches:
- Reduce greenhouse gas emissions to avoid runaway impacts (“avoiding the unmanageable”)
- Address the existing impacts (“managing the unavoidable”)
- Manage natural ecosystems as carbon sinks and resources for adaptation
The 2010 Green Long March is under the new leadership of Country Director, Guangchun Lei. Dr. Guangchun Lei has deep connections to China’s leading environmental academics, major international environmental and bilateral organizations, and leading government policy makers. He brings to the organization significant international experience, having worked in Geneva as the Senior Advisor for Asia-Pacific for the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Today, he also continues to serve as Vice Chairman of the National Wetland Science Committee and as a task force member of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development.
Launched by Future Generations China and Beijing Forestry University in 2007, the Green Long March has:
- Organized a nationwide university network; from 2000 students in 2007 to 5,000 students in 2008 participating in GLM activities along seven routes
- Expanded activities to 50 participating universities
- Brought forward evidence of China’s environmental successes, beginning with 500 surveys in 2007 and 2008, 40 in-depth case studies in 2009
- Gained the confidence and respect of the Chinese government through approval by the Communist Youth League and the State Forestry Administration
- Executed nationwide special events including Earth Day, World Environment Day and events in Beijing during the 2008 Olympic Games
- Received the 2009 Mother River Award, China’s highest conservation honor
Support for the Green Long March has come from such organizations as founding partner and gold level sponsor, Goldman Sachs, and Swire Pacific Ltd, Suzlon Wind Energy, ZeShan Foundation, and Li&Fung(1906) Foundation Ltd.
For more news, also visit: www.greenlongmarch.org
Contact: Traci Hickson, Director of Communications
traci@future.org 304-358-2000
