Int'l forum in southern California highlights ecological civilization

With the theme of "Ecological Civilization and Community Shared Destiny", a two-day global conference on ecological civilization concluded on Saturday in Claremont, California, attracting more than 100 scholars and environmentalists from around the world.

"Chinese and Americans live on a single planet, and much that is happening affects the planet as a whole. This is especially apparent with respect to climate," said John B. Cobb, Jr., a 92-year-old member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences at the 11th international forum on ecological civilization.

If the United States withdrew from the Paris Accords, it would announce to the world that the country has abandoned its role as a leader, said the philosopher and environmentalist.

Cobb is regarded as a preeminent scholar in the field of process philosophy and process theology, and is the author of more than 40 books.

"The nations of the world have a shared destiny as the planet changes," he noted, "the sooner, and the more deeply we appreciate our shared destiny, the more we act from that realization, the better the chance that our shared destiny will be life together rather than mutual destruction."

Professor Mary Evelyn Tucker, a senior lecturer and research scholar at Yale University, emphasized that harmony with nature is essential.

"Part of the revival of Confucianism in China is to encourage Confucian values toward creating an ecological civilization," she said.

"There is a tremendous concern in China on ecological civilization. It's maybe even more on the table in China than in the United States because of the ecological problems of air, water and soil pollution," she told Xinhua.

Jay McDaniel, a professor of religion at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, praised the latest development of ecological civilization in China.

"China is setting an excellent example for the rest of the world. In terms of renewable energy, China has taken the lead in so many ways. Renewable energy can help to revitalize the countryside of China," he told Xinhua.

Clifford Cobb, the editor-in-chief of American Journal of Economics and Sociology, said that China is developing a national philosophy for the development of ecological civilization.

"That's unusual in the world, because no other nation is doing that. China is trying to develop economy based on green energy," he said.

The institute for Postmodern Development of China, an organizer of the conference and a non-profit group, has organized 11 ecological forums on wide topics in Claremont since 2006, with an aim to create and promote new modes of development in China and the West. Endi