Mr Lam Chiu-ying, Former Director of the Hong Kong Observatory, lectured at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) today (16 October) on ‘Sustaining What?’. Around eighty CUHK teachers and students attended the lecture, including Professor Peter Yum Tak-shing, Dean of Engineering and Professor Paul Lee Siu-nam, Dean of Social Science.

The United Nations addressed the concept of ‘sustainable development’ to the world more than twenty years ago. In Hong Kong, this concept has been brought into action by the Government for about a decade, stressing that environmental factor should also be taken into consideration as the city continues its economic and social developments. However, is ‘sustainable development’ a viable concept to balance the needs of economic, social and environmental developments? During the lecture, Mr Lam shared his observations on the changes of the Earth. He also questioned the concept of ‘sustainable development’ and discussed alternative directions for the evolution of human society. He said, ‘When people talk about sustainable development, they only think of ways to minimize the damages to the environment, rather than to improve it. It’s time to modify this old concept.’

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