Xie Zhenhua, Chinese minister of the State Environmental
Protection Administration, was awarded the 2003 Sasakawa
Environment Prize by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan at
a ceremony in New York Wednesday.?
Xie was joined by Denor Giovanini of Brazil, who has worked to
curb illegal trafficking in wildlife. The prize, worth US$200,000,
will be shared equally by the two winners.
In a speech at the ceremony, Annan said China is going through a
period of rapid economic growth that is transforming the lives of
one quarter of the earth's population. Managed sustainably, he
noted, this growth could contribute significantly to the
achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
But if sustainability is instead regarded as a luxury or
afterthought, as already happens so often in the developed world,
the consequence could be dire indeed, extending well beyond
China.
Annan praised Xie for his efforts during the past two decades to
prevent that from happening, saying Xie "has shown great zeal and
imagination in promoting the concept of sustainable development in
China."
In a statement at the ceremony, Xie said he deemed the award as
recognition and affirmation by the United Nations and the
international community of China's efforts and achievements in
environmental protection and sustainable development.?
The Chinese government, making environmental protection one of
its basic national policies and sticking to the strategy of
sustainable development, has succeeded in curbing, by and large,
the trend of environmental deterioration and improving the quality
of the environment to some extent in a number of cities and regions
while sustaining rapid economic growth, Xie said.
He noted, however, that despite remarkable progress in
environmental protection and sustainable development, China is
still faced with serious problems of environmental pollution and
ecological deterioration.
Xie pledged the Chinese government's unremitting efforts to
promote circular economy based on the most efficient use of
resources and environmental protection, sustainable production and
consumption so as to provide its people with clean water, fresh
air, safe food and a healthy environment.
Meanwhile, Xie announced that he is ready to contribute the
total sum of the prize to environmental education in
poverty-stricken areas in western China.
The United Nations Environment Program's Sasakawa Environment
Prize, sponsored by the Nippon Foundation and founded by the late
Ryoichi Sasakawa, has been awarded annually since 1984 to
individuals who have made outstanding global contributions to the
management and protection of the environment.
(Xinhua News Agency November 21, 2003)