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“The 2nd China International Forum on Green Development was held in the Conference Room of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the 2nd floor of the Great Hall of the People, 9:00am November 13th 2009″

The first speaker was Maurice Strong,  First executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, later after many excellent speakers, the founder of the Sustainability Symbol, Philip McMaster gave the following speech:

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China’s Future….

“ International Sustainable Development:  Enhancing Public Awareness, Developing and Supporting Ecological Civilization in China”

Presented by  Philip McMaster, Peace Plus One – World Sustainability Project

Principal Researcher, McMaster Institute for Sustainable Development in Commerce.

Hong Kong – Beijing                         

 

 

*********************Begin Speech*******************

 

International Sustainable Development (and green responsibility) starts at home…

“To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order;
to put the nation in order, we must put the family in order;
to put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life;
and to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right.”
-K’ung-tzu  (Confucius)

 

Thank-you China for setting your heart right and leading the world.

Over the past few of years, I have had the privilege of meeting many notable Chinese and foreigners  all with their hearts set  on helping China become the world’s first, large scale eco-civilization. Today I’ve had the privilege of meeting the leading lights of the evolving Chinese eco-civilization… notables like revered economist Professor Li Yining, ecology and forestry expert Professor Li Wenhua, the Honourable Maurice Strong, “the world’s leading environmentalist” Khalid Malik, UN resident coordinator in China and beautiful media star and entrepreneur Lang Yan and actress, environmental ambassador Li Bing Bing

 

These people have come from all sectors of the economy with one common goal … to assure China’s success in achieving Hu Jintao’s vision of a harmonious, sustainable society, through scientific development and a circular economy.

But awareness and good intentions is not enough.

The world needs urgent, personal action. We need to set our hearts right and start acting now… Not just for ourselves and China, but for the whole world.

My name is Philip McMaster, and in my own small way, I’ve been trying to help people and countries, including my own country Canada, to develop self-leadership, a confident national spirit and a cooperative, volunteering attitude…  and to do it in a fun, attractive and sustainable way.

Now I am in China, probably the most important and exciting place in the world to be working on these global solutions.

I’m not going to discuss the sometimes discouraging statistics, procrastination and errors of the past… because past is past..  and here in China we’re acting with Chinese optimism and a “can-do” attitude to generate a bright and prosperous future,  for this country, and its place in the world.

Every honest, intelligent person knows that our world is facing a mounting crisis that we might not survive. At least not with the lifestyle we are building and maintaining today. We urgently need to get back in balance with (tian /sky),  (di / earth),  and (ren / humans).

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20 Years ago the Bruntland Report (1989) proposed  “Our Common Future” emphasizing that environmental concerns must permeate all decisions, on a global basis, from consumer choices through to national budgets and international agreements…  as, for example, we hope will happen at the Climate Treaty in Copenhagen next month.

Today there is much greater awareness amongst industries,  governments and consumer markets around the world, of the symbiotic relationship between protecting our home planet , and sustainable development.

But somehow, we still aren’t making the connection on a personal level.

Old Habits are hard to break.

This is the focus of our project, the World Sustainability Project – reminding us of our responsibilities and reinforcing  a sustainable, decision-making process in our everyday decisions.

We must emancipate the consumer mind from blindly following limited offerings and homogenized approaches to solving problems.

We need to shut down any activity, process, project or personal behaviour  that is damaging China’s health, reputation or economic balance in any way. And we need to open up our minds to creative problem solving, adaptation and innovation.

A Global Green Revolution

Great things can and do come from revolutionary approaches, and the whole world needs China to lead this new green revolution. We must do everything to promote the continuation of the Chinese civilization and its rapid and imperative shift toward becoming the world’s first truly “eco-civilization”.

For thousands of years, Chinese people have lived with philosophies of Peace, Harmony and Balance. Confucianism (ru), Buddhism (shi), Taoism (dao),   have all co-existed to enhance sustainable Chinese thought, language and behavior.

Again, this is why China must lead in the new world of sustainability, and build an eco-civilization the same way it  built a new country in the last 60 years, a miraculous economy over the last 30 years , and a magnificent , world-class Green Olympics last year, in only 8 short years, .

According to climate scientists, we have even less time to build this new eco-civilization. So we’re going to have to use a shortcut, and build on thousands of years of existing Chinese sustainability DNA.   … One person at a time.

That’s 1.3 billion people….  It’s a big job and I need your help.

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We all make decisions, (ni) you, (wo) me , (ta) him/ her.  

And we all have choices… fortunately for the world, sustainable thought is in the Chinese DNA,  we just have to remind people to live their culture and recapture their Lifestyle Of Health And Sustainability (LOHAS)

The 3 Finger Sustainability Symbol was researched and developed for exactly this purpose, to move us from simple awareness to developing a useful personal habit,  helping us remember the decision criteria  for balancing our impact on Society , Environment and Economy… Jin ji Showei Wanjing

 

“The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will
be his world and the world at large.”      -K’ung-tzu  (Confucius)

Using this framework also helps us exercise our creativity, innovation and decision-making skills,   so as we challenge ourselves to balance our daily decisions, between the needs of Society, Environment and Economy, we also  deepen our understanding of the relationships between the three,  and in turn, strengthen our own mental capacity, confidence and sense of responsibility.

A learning tool, a teaching tool , a practical tool and a sustainability tool, all in just three fingers!

Imagine how quickly we could be sharing this simple Three Way Thinking tool within China and ultimately exporting Chinese sustainability philosophy to the world.

We all remember how quickly everyone in China reacted to the Sichuan earthquake, and how the world responded.  Installation of this sustainability “Mindware” is a fundamental and achievable task.

And the task is to train people to live in a Circular Economy, where integrated, sustainable thinking about the Hardware, Software and Mindware is key.

Hardware, the buildings, vehicles and infrastructure, Software, the operating systems of governance, regulation and finance,  and Mindware, our individual behaviours and decision-making capabilities…  are concepts introduced to me by my mentor, Dr. Rusong Wang of the The Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chairman of the China Ecological Society.

 I owe a deep debt of gratitude to Professor Wang for discovering our work in Hong Kong during the International Conference on Climate Change and inviting me to bring the 3 fingers to the mainland.

The McMaster Institute for Sustainable Development in Commerce has a number of innovative projects to help people and business achieve their sustainable goals - but we feel the World Sustainability Project is the most urgent and achievable,  based on the Olympic size of the task and China’s Olympic experience.

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Are you willing to be part of the solution and teach others the profound meaning and simple technology of the 3 finger Sustainability Symbol? Will you align your hardware, software and mindware to achieve Chinese eco-civilization?

Again I take my inspiration from a wise Chinese philosopher…

“If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed;
if in terms of ten years, plant trees;
if in terms of 100 years, teach the people.”
– K’ung-tzu (Confucius)

Thank-you,  and  Peace Plus One_\!/

 

******************End Speech ********************

Philip McMaster,

Principal Researcher,

McMaster Institute for Sustainable Development in Commerce

World Sustainability Project

www.SustainabilitySymbol.com

Email: SustainabilitySymbol * gmail com

Why we must begin acting immediately in every area of Hardware, Software and Mindware and to begin living within a Circular Economy. -  (a quote from Winston Churchill, 12 November 1936  a few months after the Olympics in Nazi Germany and before the outbreak of World War II. )

“They go on in strange paradox, decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be impotent…
Owing to past neglect, in the face of the plainest warnings, we have entered upon a period of danger. The era of procrastination, of half measures, of soothing and baffling expedience of delays, is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences… We cannot avoid this period, we are in it now…”

 

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