Former President of Iceland visits Peking University
Dec 13, 2016
Peking University, December 11, 2016: On December 6, 2016, former President of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson visited Peking University and invited PKU to the 2017 Arctic Circle assembly held in Iceland.
Former President Grímsson said that China participates in international affairs actively, and PKU can play an important role in international interactions as well. He sincerely invited PKU to join in the Arctic Circle assembly held next October. The Arctic Circle is an organization whose mission is to facilitate dialogue among political and business leaders, environmental experts, scientists, indigenous representatives, nongovernmental and environmental representatives, activists, students and media to address issues facing the Arctic as a result of climate change and sea level rise.
Vice President Wang Jie Giving Mr.Grímsson a gift
Wang Jie, Vice President of PKU, pointed out that the whole world is paying attention to global warming and other climate issues, and human beings share common responsibility in solving these problems. He thanked Mr. Grímsson for inviting PKU to take part in the Arctic Circle, and believed that both students and teachers of PKU will have a great interest in this forum. Many scientific research institutes and universities give priority to energy problems. PKU College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering and School of Physics have been doing extensive research on relevant new technologies, and these research teams exert certain influence on related policy-making in China.
Mr. Dagfinnur Sveinbjornsson, CEO of the Arctic Circle Secretariat, said that heating problem contributed to the severe air pollution of Iceland several decades ago. But Iceland solved the problem in a comparatively short time. During the last decade, Iceland has been cooperating with some provinces and cities in China. Nowadays, Iceland has introduced geothermal district heating systems to Hebei and other districts in China to help improve air quality and reduce greenhouse effect. The program has worked well ever since. Therefore Iceland sincerely wishes to continue and expand cooperation with China by this program. Since university is the origin of invention, it is also of great significance to cooperate with universities. Mr. Sveinbjornsson hoped that the Arctic Circle can be held in China in the future, so that they can invite more decision makers of China and educators to participate in it and introduce to them new technologies to completely solve the environmental problems caused by heating.
Former President Grímsson giving a Speech
After the meeting, former president Grímsson gave a speech named “The Arctic and Global Clean Energy Revolution” at room C108 of the School of International Studies.
