Forum predicts changes

Forum predicts changes

Global warming has become a hot issue for science ministers and scientists around the world.

Published on October 15, 2007

At the Science and Technology in Society Forum 2007, ways to use science and technology to solve this urgent problem were discussed.

The forum, held in Kyoto last week, was the fourth annual meeting with over 600 delegates from 71 countries discussing the theme of Harmony with Nature and Innovation. Thailand's Science Minister Yongyuth Yuthavong also joined the event.

As the host, Japan's Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda gave a keynote speech during the forum's opening session. He stressed the importance of acting on climate change and agreed on the need to establish an international framework and community to make the transition to a sustainable society through empowerment by science and technology.

He said that in the past, the progress of science and technology was focused on making mass production possible, but in the 21st century, it's necessary to shift to the development of new production and consumption systems that had to be friendly to the global environment.

To show the country's commitment, Japan has launched an initiative called Cool Earth 50, with a hope to cool the world. The government has set a target to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions by 50 per cent by 2050.

Fukuda said that new inventions and technologies in Japan in the next era would be initiated to generate new power to make the earth cooler with a sustainable environment.

Since climate change is an urgent issue that many governments around the world are taking seriously, the forum was intended to be a mechanism to drive the development of technology that can harmonise with nature.

German Education and Research Minister Annette Schavan believed that the forum would bring research and development into international political collaboration, which would strengthen the ability to preserve nature for future generations.

The Chinese government is also putting forward technology to respond to climate change. China's Minister of Science and Technology Gang Wan said the Chinese government had also set a plan to reduce the country's energy consumption by around 20 per cent in the next five years. Meanwhile, it would also put more development into its energy technology.

Thailand Science Minister Yongyuth said after the meeting that climate change was a world issue and every country had to use science and technology to deal with it.

He added that during the meeting, an idea to develop technology to capture carbon dioxide was raised.

"In the meeting we agreed to apply a new method to capture the gas in the environment. We hope to bring the idea into practical development," he said. The new method is to develop what is called carbon-capture storage. Yongyuth said the technology was to capture carbon dioxide and store it in the form of dry ice to reduce the amount of gas in the atmosphere.

Krissanapong Kirtikara, a consultant at King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, speaking as a scientific delegate on the academic side, added that while the world was changing, scientists must use science and technology to deal with the problems.

"Now on the global stage we all know about climate change but at local and individual levels we do not yet know what exactly will happen in each country as a result of the change. Individual countries have to study the effects in their own areas and use science and technology to cope with the changes," he said.

He said there are two key things - food and energy - which are major concerns when it comes to tackling climate change. He said that as global warming may bring changes in terms of geography to each part of the world, the use of new technology would help each country to adjust itself for survival.

Science Minister Yongyuth added that Thailand should start with making a detailed study of the effects that may occur in each local area and then apply science and technology to solve the problems.

"After we know what kinds of changes will occur in our country, we could use technology to tackle the problem. In some cases we may need biotechnology to improve new breeds of plants that could grow in a new environment after the climate changes while energy technology could also make the world cooler," he said.

However, to make use of science and technology, the development of qualified people and then retaining them was also a topic discussed in the meeting.

Sakarindr Bhumiratana, the president of the National Science and Technology Development Agency, said the brain drain in some countries was a brain gain in others, so there was a suggestion to encourage the migration of science and technology knowledge between countries.

He said that each country should develop infrastructure and opportunities, especially in science careers, to serve the spread of knowledge. Meanwhile, the government should encourage the private sector to conduct more research and development to make room for the knowledge that would come to the country. It would eventually be necessary for each country to develop its own scientific people as a foundation for science and technology development.

Pongpen Sutharoj

The Nation

Kyoto, Japan