Tang Prize Newsletter

The Tang Prize Foundation recently spoke with Gro Harlem Brundtland, the "Godmother of Sustainable Development," on the importance of the upcoming conference in Paris later this year. Brundtland sees the recent conference in New York and the upcoming meeting in Paris as crucial moments in the immediate future of sustainability on Earth.

One of the essential decision that all countries must agree on is to maintain a 2 degree Celsius maximum in global temperature rise, a figure that was already agreed upon in 2010, Brundtland says. They must also agree to a common goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.

Developing countries will play no less important a role in the realization of a sustainable world. But, as Brundtland emphasizes, "developing countries need to grow in a way the world's industrialized societies did not." As Brundtland emphasizes, "We are all responsible, as individuals and citizens. We all should let our voices and preferences be heard, on behalf of future generations."

Read more about Brundtland—COP21 Holds the Promise of Improving Billions of Lives>>

On a recent visit to Taipei, Nobel Prize-winning economist Jean Tirole discussed economic tools that could be used to fight climate change. His speech, titled Climate Change and Public Policy, called for an end to the "waiting game" that has trammeled progressive climate policy. He believes that the world's nations may have presented good intentions to regulate GHG emissions after the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, but the goals set for 2020 are far too limited to be effective. Also on his list of stumbling blocks for climate progress are a general lack of incentives and punishments—the carrots and sticks that motivate compliance.

One central concept is that of a uniform carbon pricing system. In Tirole's suggestion, a uniform market price would be defined for carbon; then countries with lower-than-market reduction costs could sell their permits to countries with higher costs, making for a system that is responsive to both developed and developing countries.

Tirole ended the talk with his climate change roadmap. The first node on his itinerary is governance; second is an independent emissions tracking system; finally a negotiation process for compensation. In today's stasis, Tirole believes that implementing as little as these three approaches would be enough to effect substantial change.

Read more about Nobel Prize-Winning Economist: No "Waiting Game" for Climate Policy>>

On a recent visit to the Tang Prize Foundation offices, the president of the Moscow-based International Academy of Engineering and the Russian Academy of Engineering spoke at length on COP21 and sustainability. Boris Vladimirovich Gusev says that at an important event like COP21, discussants can project their sustainability goals at least five years into the future.

Gusev underlined the fact that we predominately use fossil fuels and natural gas as our energy sources, though in the future such sources will be abandoned. One way to offset or eliminate the use of fossil fuels is through catalysts. Another change will be in the reduction of waste from concrete through technologies like those developed by the RAE.

How we produce and use material is one of the many sustainability problems that faces humanity. Gusev hopes that discussion of the problem can prove to be useful across the board to sustainability, economy, industry, and humanity.

Read more about RAE President: Material and Energy Central Duo in Sustainability>>

Sustainable development is a global problem, one that is becoming more serious by the day, one that spans professions and disciplines. Climate change and access to food and water are two relevant concerns; then there is population growth, aging, resource scarcity, health, urbanization, poverty…these are the many fronts of sustainable development.

Firstly, the government ought to define their goals and their direction; then they need to follow through with clearly defined policies that the public can follow—only then will the people change. One example of a clear plan is the Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act, which was passed this year by Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. COP21 Paris is one of the most decisive moments in modern human history. This will be the first time in its history that the UN will make emissions reduction legally binding. With legal force, it will be much more effective than the Kyoto Protocol.

Sustainability is a unique problem for humanity, one with a breadth that we have never before encountered. It touches a multitude of disciplines and areas of knowledge; it goes beyond nations, it concerns all government departments, and by definition it is inter-generational. So for the Tang Prize to include a prize for sustainable development is to give a concrete example for the people to follow, to spur them on to think about these problems.

(Dr. Eugene Chien was the first Minister of the Environmental Protection Administration of the Executive Yuan of Taiwan and now serves as the Board Chairman of the Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy.)

Read more about Eugene Chien: COP21 Could Spark Next Industrial Revolution>>