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CUHK Jockey Club Initiative Gaia (Gaia) will hold a forum entitled ‘Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change’ at Concordia Lutheran School this Friday (25 October).  At this forum under the ‘Environment and Climate Change Forum Series’, experts from the environmental and education fields will share their insights on the impacts of climate change, drawing reference to the Fifth Assessment Report of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) released on 27 September 2013 in Stockholm, Sweden. 

Prof. Gabriel Ngar-Cheung LAU, Director of the Institute of Environment, Energy and Sustainability, CUHK, will deliver a keynote speech at the forum.  Professor Lau is a renowned climate scientist. He has been the lead scientist of Climate Diagnostics Project at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL), US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); and concurrently a Professor at Princeton University.  He was a contributing author of the Fourth Assessment Report, and a lead author of the Fifth Assessment Report of IPCC, which was recognized by the Nobel Peace Prize (2007).  Professor Lau will share his views on the Fifth Assessment Report, especially the impacts of climate change to Hong Kong.  Dr William YU, Chief Executive Officer of World Green Organisation, and Mr HO Pui-shing, Principal of Tsang Pik Shan Secondary School, will also confer on the topic and interact with the participants.

The forum will be conducted in Cantonese.  Members of the public are welcome and admission is free.  Limited seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.  Interested parties please register at www.cuhk.edu.hk/gaia. 

CUHK Jockey Club Initiative Gaia 

CUHK Jockey Club Initiative Gaia is a 5-year community engagement programme launched in 2012 by CUHK, with a generous donation of HK$54 million by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. Committed to paving a sustainable future for Hong Kong, the programme aims at promoting environmental conservation and sustainability in local communities, through public education and carbon reduction partnerships with schools and non-governmental organizations. 

Rising environmental awareness, together with the proactive policies implemented by the government, has inspired the community to advocate for environmental protection.  In order to draw on collective wisdom and to encourage active public participation in pro-environment activities, CUHK Jockey Club Initiative Gaia organizes the ‘Environment and Climate Change Forum Series’.  Experts and practitioners from different fields and the public are involved to confer on the best ways to deal with environmental challenges and impacts of climate change. 

Also under the programme is the Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change, scheduled to open in December 2013, to present Dr Rebecca Lee’s valuable “Three Poles” collection (the North Pole, the South Pole and Mt Everest), innovative research in environment, energy and sustainability initiated by CUHK, and the Trust’s endeavours contributing to the improvement of the environment. 

More details of the CUHK Jockey Club Initiative Gaia can be found at www.cuhk.edu.hk/gaia.