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Academia Sinica jointly with National Cheng Kung University, Ministry of Science and Technology, Executive Yuan, and Tang Prize Foundation are pleased to announce the “Public Health and the Environment in a Sustainable Society” Special Forum. We have the honor inviting Madam Gro Harlem Brundtland as our special panelist to share her insights on sustainable society. Madam Brundtland, a world-renowned pioneer in sustainable development, is one of the most active leading voices for the criticality of developing a sustainable human society. Our distinguished panelists include Academician Shaw Chen Liu, Academia Sinica; President Huey-Jen Jenny Su, National Cheng Kung University; and Dean Chang Chuan Chan, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University. We look forward to your attendance to this memorable event.

In 2015, the United Nations achieved two milestones in sustainable development. They are the Paris Agreement passed at COP 21 and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed in September. Learning from the unsuccessful government-centered Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); the SDGs focus on devotions and supports of corporations.

There are 169 targets for the 17 SDGs and each SDG requires collaboration from public and private sector. The concepts are interconnected and involve multiple disciplines. For a research institute, promoting the SDGs may increase its researchers’ capacity. In this sense, researchers who work on fundamental sciences should not limit to traditional framework. Collaborate with the industries can bring a win-win situation.

For a corporation, successful SDGs mean a better and more manageable global market. With today’s uncertainties in business environment and pressure of international supply chain, even best performance corporations are facing challenges in development. From a risk management perspective, the corporations should actively take part and take actions to promote the SDGs. On the other hand, SDGs have great potential in financial return. Reported by Business and Sustainable Development Commission (BSDC), by implementing SDGs in corporations will bring US $12trillion and near 0.4billion jobs by 2023.

The value of collaboration between a research institute and corporation on SDGs would help a corporation expand its sustainable development to a global scale. It will lead leaders in public and private sector have a better management strategy, enhance international research collaboration, trigger innovations in low carbon and sustainable products and services, bring a sustainable mutual collaboration, and make our society will benefit from science.

Sabrina Schmidt-Koschella has been with the German Foreign Office for almost 30 years with postings to Tunisia, Kuwait, Hong Kong, Armenia,Ghana, Berlin, India and now Taipei. As Deputy Representative at theGerman Institute Taipei, she is also the Head of Economic Department.Her main focus is to discuss the German Energy Transition Policy andGermany's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategies with the Government,Institutions, NGOs and companies promoting Green Energy. SabrinaSchmidt-Koschella will share her insights into Germany's EnergyTransition Policy and GHG Reduction Strategies.

The UK government appointed Sir David King as the new Special Representative for Climate Change in September 2013. Sir David was previously the Government’s Chief Scientific Advisor from 2000 – 2007, during which time he raised awareness of the need for governments to act on climate change and was instrumental in creating the Energy Technologies Institute. He also served as the Founding Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and Environment at Oxford; was Head of the Department of Chemistry at Cambridge University 1993-2000 and Master of Downing College at Cambridge 1995 -2000. Sir David has published over 500 papers on science and policy, for which he has received numerous awards, and holds 22 Honorary Degrees from universities around the world. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1991, a Foreign Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2002 and knighted in 2003, Sir David was also made an Officier of the French Legion d’Honneur’ in 2009, for work which has contributed to responding to the climate and energy challenge.