Busan City Hosts the 10th International Conference... Discussing Solutions to the Climate Crisis

Held at Haeundae Green Narae Hotel at 10 AM on the 16th

On the 16th at 10 a.m., Busan City held the "10th International Conference for the 2030 Busan World Expo Bid" at the Green Narae Hotel in Haeundae.

Commemorative photo of participants at the 10th International Conference for the bid to host the 2030 Busan World Expo.

First launched in 2014 and marking its 10th edition this year, the conference proceeded in the order of ▲Global Youth Climate Hope Challenge performance presentation ▲keynote speech ▲expert sessions ▲awards ceremony.

The event was attended by Lee Seong-gwon, Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs; Kang Cheol-ho, Chairman of the City Council’s Special Committee for the 2030 Busan World Expo Bid; climate experts; and over 100 participants including global youth challenge participants from 12 countries.

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the event, the Global Youth Climate Hope Challenge performance presentation was held first, providing an opportunity for the future generation of global youth and conference attendees to present and discuss climate change response topics.

This challenge is an event where future generations from various countries form teams to seek solutions to climate change under the theme of “Nature and Sustainable Life (Climate Change Response).”

The global youth participants from 13 countries formed 14 teams starting with a launch ceremony on August 26 and engaged in three weeks of in-depth idea discussions to devise solutions. The performance presentation introduced the solutions they developed.

Following this, the keynote speech was delivered by Ganbold Asanjav, Director of the Northeast Asia Office of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP), on the theme “Accelerating Responses to Climate Change,” presenting ways to promote public-private-academic partnerships for climate change response.

In the expert sessions, various experts gave presentations and held discussions on the themes “Busan’s Urban Transformation and Sustainable Green Smart City Strategy” and “Climate Crisis and Humanity’s Sustainable Future: Busan Expo.”

Shin Hyun-seok, President of the Busan Development Institute, presented on “Busan’s Urban Transformation and Sustainable Green Smart City Strategy,” and Hong Jong-ho, Dean of the Graduate School of Environmental Studies at Seoul National University and session chair, presented on “Climate Crisis and Humanity’s Sustainable Future: Busan Expo.”

In the discussion, Park Jong-seok, Korea Polar Cooperation Representative from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Kwon Oh-sung, Executive Director of Microsoft Korea; and Jo Jeong-ho, reporter from Yonhap News Agency, participated and shared diverse opinions on the previous presentations.

Finally, at the awards ceremony, three teams that presented innovative solutions among the Global Youth Climate Hope Challenge participants were selected and awarded. After thorough evaluation by a panel of climate crisis experts, the Grand Prize was awarded to the Park n Kim team, the Excellence Award to the CESE team, and the Merit Award to the Rich Nong team.

The Grand Prize-winning “Park n Kim” team received high praise from judges and participants for presenting “Eco-friendly Practice Plans for Universities in Busan” as a climate change response solution.

Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs Lee Seong-gwon stated, “In fact, the climate crisis affects future generations more than the current generation,” adding, “I hope this event serves as an opportunity for future generations worldwide to learn about the core values of the Busan Initiative and the main and sub-themes and significance of the 2030 Busan World Expo, which will become a platform for climate change solutions.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.