The international journal Environmental Science & Ecotechnology (ESE), co-organized by the Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences, Harbin Institute of Technology and Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, is launched in 2020. ESE aims to cover cutting-edge environmental science and ecotechnology research in a timely fashion. It is positioned to build an influential and professional exchange platform for the global scientific community. This is an important step to build an ecological civilization and a beautiful China, achieve green and sustainable development, and fulfill our commitment to the campaign of global environmental improvement.
In retrospect, the 15th century was the century to rediscover humanity, and the 20th century to rediscover nature. Like the Renaissance liberated people from the yoke of theocracy, the environmental protection movement salvaged nature from human ignorance and brutality. In this sense, the greatest lesson the last 50 years has taught humankind was redefined values of the natural environment, with due care and respect towards nature.
As the earth is the shared property of all mankind, protecting the environment is in the common interest of all nations. Each of us is entitled to breathe fresh air, drink clean water, enjoy the caress of the gentle breeze from the forest, and behold the moon over the mountains. Similarly, we share the joint obligation to protect the earth from pollution and leave a pristine planet to future generations.
Protecting the environment is an obligation, but in inheriting an ailing planet, we have to pay the due debts. Environmental protection also means requiting the favor and blessings nature bestows upon us. Yet, in the interest of our own, protecting the environment is for the sustainability of our future, of our children and grandchildren.
We must be aware that the natural environment is not a function of human desire, but the mother we depend on to survive. People are but the children of nature. We cannot survive without it. Our subsistence hinges on the natural resources, such as soil, air, water, climate, forest, grassland, and all plants and animals. The fate of human civilization and nature have been closely intertwined, just as inseparable as mind and body.
Now a global consensus has been reached to take the path of green and sustainable development. It calls for effective cooperation of the international community, especially the concrete actions in transforming economic growth models and in pursuing sustainable development. Such actions include promoting a circular green economy, integrating environmental concerns in economic decision-making, using the functions of market players, establishing diversified ways of environmental improvement, and building smooth public participation channels. The practices in various countries have shown that without the joint effort and support of governments, markets, and the private sector, green and sustainable development will be reduced to a pipe dream.
Today, we shall no longer give orders to nature as if we were conquerors. Instead we must treat it with respect, never tamper with its rules and guard its system. This is the first time in history that man has wakened to the fact that nature should deserve more tender loving care, not horrendous abuse. This seismic shift relies not only on legislature and moral imperatives, but also on vigorous efforts dedicated to the development of environmental science and ecotechnology.
Archimedes once said: “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the earth.” Those words were often quoted to express the ambition to conquer nature after the Industrial Revolution. However, the Archimedes quotation has become nonsensical in this age. An updated version is suggested to be “Give me a pod of seeds, and I can green the earth."
I can’t wait to see ESE help to sow the seed of hope for a clean and healthy earth, the shared home of us all.
Biography
Prof. Geping Qu is a world-renowned environmental scientist. With an established career in environment, he has held many prominent positions, such as First Chinese Representative to UNEP, Deputy Director of the General Office of Environmental Protection Leading Group of the State Council, Director of the Environmental Protection Bureau of the Ministry of Urban and Rural Construction and Environmental Protection, First Chief of the National Environment Protection Bureau, Chairman of the Environmental and Resources Protection Committee of NPC (National People’s Congress), Director of CSES (Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences), Director of CEPF (China Environmental Protection Foundation). In addition, he is a part-time professor of Peking University and Tsinghua University, and a visiting professor at Harvard University and Oxford University. As an advocate and pioneer of the Chinese environmental protection, he has established and improved the theory and policy framework of China’s environmental management, and led in formulating a battery of Chinese environmental policies and legislation. Among his publications are Environment Problems and Strategy of China, China’s Environmental Management, China’s Environment and Development, Development of World Environmental Issues, Population and Environment in China, Dilemma and Options, We Need a Transformation, Dreams and Expectations, Geping Qu—My Quest for Ways to Protect the Environment in China: Strategy of China’s Environment Protection, Chinese Programme for Natural Protection. He has won the First Prize of National Science and Technology Progress Award, the UNEP Gold Medal for Environment, the UNEP Sasakawa Environment Prize, and the Japanese Blue Planet Prize.