Rae Kwon Chung, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, met with teachers and students of Shymkent University
On February 17, 2025, Rae Kwon Chung, advisor to the UN Secretary-General on Climate Change and winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, delivered a speech at Shymkent University as a special guest. The university organized a round table discussion under the leadership of the Rector, with the participation of Heads of the University, teachers, and students.
Since the early 1990s, Rae Kwon Chung has been actively involved in environmental and climate change issues. He participated in the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and the Climate Change Conference in Samarkand in April 2025. He was one of the co-authors of the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2007 and served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade in South Korea.
He studies the human impact on nature and believes it is catastrophic. He thinks the planet is approaching a "point of no return". He promotes the idea of low-carbon "green growth" as a new way of economic development for countries. This involves the use of publicly available technologies and the transfer of publicly-owned technologies through mandatory licensing. The goal is to reduce carbon emissions and combat climate change while creating new jobs.
The green growth concept aims to achieve this by promoting the development of renewable energy sources. It argues that while this may initially involve costs and challenges, it also provides opportunities for faster and more sustainable growth in the long run. However, there are potential short-term losses that need to be considered.. Nevertheless, the concept of "green growth" forms the basis for developing long-term strategies. The aim of "green growth" is to promote these ideas. For example, he mentioned the opening of a smart factory for the production of "green cotton" in the Turkestan region. Solar panels are planned to be used as a source of energy.
