By invitation of the Nobel Sustainability Trust (NST), Dean CHEN Fangruo, as a committee member of the Nobel Sustainability Award, attended the 2024 Nobel Sustainability Trust Summit & Award Ceremony in the U.S. from November 20th to 21st, 2024.

The event took place at the University of California, Berkeley, and attracted over 150 speakers and guests worldwide, including representatives from the United Nations (UN) and government agencies, scholars from renowned universities worldwide, entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley companies, as well as investors from European, American, and Middle Eastern families. They gathered to discuss sustainable development for humanity and the future prospects for a sustainable world.

Rich Lyons, Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, warmly welcomed the guests and stated that as a global platform for knowledge exchange, the university is committed to promoting academic research and practice in sustainable development. Siddharth Chatterjee, the UN Resident Coordinator in China, emphasized that the achievement of sustainable development goals is crucial for the prosperity and ultimate survival of all humanity, and that actions towards sustainability will have a lasting impact on both people and the planet. Peter Nobel, Chairman of the NST, stated that China is one of the most important participants in the global response to climate change. Over the past decade, China has become a significant participant, contributor, and leader in global climate governance, playing an important, positive, and constructive role. The summit was chaired by YANG Lan, a well-known Chinese media journalist and Chairman of Sun Media Group.

The summit announced the winners of the 2024 Nobel Sustainability Awards. Professor QU Jiuhui, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Distinguished Professor at the School of Environment, Tsinghua University, and Research Professor of the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was awarded the 2024 Nobel Sustainability Award for outstanding research and development in the field of safe drinking water. Other winners included outstanding contributors in various fields such as global ecological protection, sustainable agriculture, and climate policy: the President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum; the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon; the founder and chairman of the Global Ecological Footprint Network, Mathis Wackernagel; and Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, Head of the Danish Pioneer Center for Landscape Research in Sustainable Agricultural Futures at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

About the Nobel Sustainability Trust and the Nobel Sustainability Award

The Nobel Sustainability Trust (NST) is an international non-governmental organization based in Switzerland, founded by Michael Nobel, the head of the Nobel family, along with three other family members. The foundation aims to carry forward the spirit of Nobel and promote sustainable development worldwide, focusing on research related to the environment and nature, clean energy, green digital economy, and long-term low-carbon strategies and transition paths. By awarding the Nobel Sustainability Award, the foundation promotes the marketization and commercialization of cutting-edge sustainable technologies and drives research and reform in clean and renewable technologies to address issues such as climate change, resource scarcity, and waste in modern society.

Since its establishment in 2022, the Nobel Sustainability Award has recognized the contributions of several Chinese individuals in promoting global sustainable development for three consecutive years, highlighting the increasing global recognition of China's contributions in this field. WU Zheng, Co-Chairman and CEO of the Sun Seven Stars Investment Group, was awarded the first Sustainability Outstanding Contribution Medal; XIE Zhenhua, former Special Envoy for Climate Change Affairs in China, was awarded the first Sustainability Special Contribution Award; and ZENG Yuqun, Chairman of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) and an alumnus of Shanghai Jiao Tong University from 1989, was awarded the second Nobel Sustainability Special Contribution Award.