Warehouses of liquid natural gas in Zhejiang province on Aug 8, 2018. [Photo/VCG] The transfer of responsibility for tackling climate change to the country's top environmental watchdog will help promote and improve the critical process, said an official. Li Gao, director-general of climate change, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, made the remark during a news conference on Wednesday in Beijing after his department was transferred to the ministry from the National Development and Reform Commission. After years of effort, China has achieved remarkable results in tackling climate change. The carbon intensity, or the ratio of greenhouse gas emissions produced to gross domestic product, fell 46 percent last year from 2005 levels. This shows that China is attaining its goal of reducing the intensity by 40 to 45 percent by 2020, two years ahead of schedule, Li said. This lays a good foundation for the country to achieve the goal it set for 2030, Li said. The shift of duties of tackling climate change to the ministry helps better coordinate and collectively promote the country's efforts to control greenhouse gases and other pollutants, he said. The key task in tackling climate change is to control carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels. Coal, a major source of energy in China, is a significant contributor to air pollution, he said. The country has limited the expansion of industries with high energy consumption and pollution, promoted use of clean energy, and accelerated the adjustment of energy generation in its action plans for air pollution control in the past few years. These measures are also helping contribute to greenhouse emissions control, he said. Air pollution control measures in recent years have helped reduce the greenhouse gas emissions equivalent of 175 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. The actions to improve air quality have played a significant role in helping us realize the goal of tackling climate change, he said. Meanwhile, controls over greenhouse gas emissions have also contributed to reduced air pollution. The reduction of one ton of carbon dioxide also means a decrease of 3.2 kilograms of sulfur dioxide and 2.8 kg of nitric oxide, he added. The shift to the ministry provides better coordination in tackling climate change and controlling air pollution, he said. We will collaboratively promote the work ... in our monitoring and setting of targets, as well as in policy drafting, Li added. different rubber band braceletssilicone wristbands custombracelet maker rubberpersonalized rubber band braceletsembossed wristband
HONG KONG - A ceremony was held here Saturday to mark the founding of Hong Kong STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) Education Alliance, which aims to foster the development of STEM education and innovation and technology (I&T) in Hong Kong.Chief Executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Carrie Lam, Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong SAR Wang Zhimin and some other guests officiated at the ceremony.Through liaising with people who support, promote and lead the development of STEM education in Hong Kong, the alliance aims to enhance students' interest in science and technology and strengthen students' necessary knowledge.Speaking at the ceremony, Lam said that the Hong Kong SAR government puts a lot of emphasis on nurturing innovation and technology talent. In her latest policy address, she proposed to provide, starting from the 2019/20 school year, a new recurrent Life-wide Learning Grant with an annual provision of 900 million HK dollars (about $115 million).Lam said the grant will support schools to take forward, on the present foundation, life-wide learning with enhanced efforts through organizing more out-of-classroom experiential learning activities in various curriculum areas such as STEM education, so as to broaden students' horizons and foster their overall development.Tsui Lap-chee, president of the alliance said that for the purpose of Hong Kong becoming an international innovation and technology center, the alliance will train a huge number of scientific and technological talents with creativity and comprehensive, collaborative and problem-solving skills.The alliance will also promote STEM activities and organize STEM competition to support STEM education in Hong Kong.The 1st Hong Kong STEM Education Forum was also held by the alliance on Saturday, with the attendance of more than 700 experts, teachers and students. (1 US dollar = 7.82 HK dollars)
