The Declaration On Environment

The Declaration on “Environmental Responsibilities vs National Development” by the Global Youth Symposium 2008, the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. “KUALA LUMPUR ’08, DECLARATION II”

The delegates of the Global Youth Symposium 2008 gathered in the University of Malaya from 19th to 23rd August 2008 under the theme of “Empowering Youth – Meeting Global Challenges” to discuss

Australia Chinese Taipei Hong Kong, China India Indonesia Kenya Malaysia Nepal Pakistan Singapore Thailand The Philippines Vietnam

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Preamble This declaration recognizes that global warming is an immediate threat and if not countered, will jeopardize the very life on earth. Three main areas have been identified to implement steps in order to counter global warming which are:

(1) The transportation sector, when inefficient, motivates people to use private cars as these emissions contribute to 14% of greenhouse gas emissions. (2) The industrial sector, when too intent on maximizing profit, disregards its environmental responsibilities and contributes to 16.8% of greenhouse gas emissions through industrial processes alone. (3) The education sector, when not promoting awareness, contributes to public ignorance about the causes and effects of global warming which does nothing to curb global warming. Now, therefore, Global Youth Symposium 2008 proclaims this declaration as an action plan to curb global warming through practical steps which can be implemented both nationally and internationally. The above participating nations of this symposium hereby declare as follows:

Article 1 Enforcement from both governments and non-governmental organizations shall be carried out strictly with no favourtism through fines and corrective measures such as community service.

Article 2 (1) The public transport system shall be centralized through consultation with the government for planning with the long term goal of privatizing the various modes of public transportation to maximize efficiency. (2) The use of public transport shall be promoted through billboards and advertisements instead of the marketing of personal vehicles.

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(3) The government shall implement a quota system to regulate the number of registered vehicles which will lessen the volume of traffic in urban areas through the ‘New City’ concept where vehicles will be parked on the fringes of the urban area. (4) In the future, environmental-friendly vehicles shall be promoted to replace existing fuelbased vehicles which pollute the environment.

Article 3 (1) Education about environmental issues shall be carried out at all levels of society; (a) Environmental issues and practices shall be included in the curriculum and carried out in class to promote awareness of vital issues. (b) Repackage environmental concern and ‘green-living’ as a trend to be accepted and embraced by the youth as a way of life. Article 4 The industrial sector must limit the emission of greenhouse gasses and encourage the usage of renewable energy even at the expense of higher costs of production.

Article 5 (1) The government must conduct environmental impact assessments before developing buildings and make this assessment public to the citizens of the area affected.

(2) The government shall support environmental-friendly and energy-saving products to motivate both consumers and manufacturers towards a ‘green lifestyle’

Article 6 The approach to recycling should be revamped Incentives for recycling shall be provided by all parties with a special emphasis on the creation and use of a new automatic recycling vending machine which will give money in return for recycled goods. 3 GLOBAL YOUTH SYMPOSIUM 2008 THE UNIVERISTY OF MALAYA KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA