Changwon, Korea environmental capital, host international environmental forum

On the occasion of commemorating the second anniversary of the declaration of Changwon City as the Environmental Capital, an International Environmental Forum was successfully held in Changwon City on 18 November 2008. More than participants joined the event 400 including environmentalists and entrepreneurs as well as local governments’ officials and general public.

The Forum co-hosted by Changwon City with a population of more than 600,000 and ICLEI Korea Office was designated to seek an avenue of how to raise Changwon City to the international standard of a model city for climate change in Korea in terms of sustainability and resilience.

Changwon City, an ICLEI Member, is a hybrid community mingled with industrialization and eco-friendly profile. At the opening ceremony, Korea Office Director Chin Dae-shik delivered a speech of putting an emphasis on international cooperation and commitment to combat climate change through ICLEI’s campaigns and networking.

Mayor Park Wan-Su of Changwon City disclosed his plan of Changwon city that Changwon City should strive to become the most famous model city for climate adaptation and sustainability in the foreseeable future.

Speakers from the United States, Germany, Japan, Philippines and Korea shared an opinion of the necessity of immediate actions for climate change adaptation on the basis of cooperation and exchanges of knowledge and experiences.

The speakers and the titles of their presentations at the forum were:

• Hiroaki Furumai “Challenge to sustainable urban water use in Tokyo”
• Marc Hoffmann “Air and air pollution control in Germany”
• Chanam Lee “Healthy people healthy environments walkable and bikeable communities”
• Nak-pyong Lee “Planning Greenway along the Abandoned Railway in Gwangju”
• Leticia Clemente “Local Actions towards environmental sustainability in Governance: The Case of
• Baguio City, Philippines”
• Chan-kyu Kim “Carbon neutral program to counter convention on climate change”
• Tae-hyeon Rim “The projects to make Changwon into the Environmental Capital”