China marks World Environmental Day with inaugural Environmental Prize
China marked this year’s world environmental day with its inaugural environmental prize, which is being dubbed the ‘ecological civilization award’.
The prize, which is the brain child of China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection, will be held every three years.
The inaugural edition of the prize attracted environmentalists from provinces and regions all over China, from which the winners were picked based on the best environmental practices.
Participants from Tibet, Xinjiang, Zhejiang and Sichuan emerged as the winners of the inaugural edition, and received special recognition for their efforts at environmental conservation. In total, 19 groups and 33 individuals were feted for this worthy course.
Shen Yueyue, chairperson of the National People’s Congress (NPC)’s standing committee, congratulated the government for introducing the awards and said the government had shown its commitment to ecological conservation.
He also urged all citizens in all walks of life to be confident and determined to conserve the environment and said the award winners had vital lessons for everyone to learn about creating favourable environments for ecological conservation.
Alongside this year’s award event was an ecological symposium held in Beijing with a view to promote ecological conservation for a beautiful China. The symposium brought together environmentalists from all sectors.
During the award ceremony, the ministry also revealed that 133 cities and counties in China had been termed as Ecology Friendly cities/counties.
Re-igniting the passion for environmental conservation
China has been lagging behind in matters of environmental conservation, with the government burying its head in the sand in regards to the pollution that has adversely affected agriculture in regions with major industrial cities.
It is hoped that these awards will trigger a surge in patriotism among organizations, companies, businesses and individual citizens who now see the need to create conducive environments for ecological conservation.
Published by Green Jobs Online - 7th June 2016