GUANGZHOU City – The issue on the environment and climate change is a challenge that individual efforts cannot resolve, said Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia during the Governors Summit held in Guangzhou City, Guandong Province, China.

She said “openness to relationships with other countries leads to knowledge and cooperation, as we learn from each other’s experiences.”

The summit carried the theme “Create a Better Future through Cooperation and Exchange.” Garcia joined more than 20 governors representing the sister-provinces of Guandong in the five- day celebration of the 30th Anniversary of Guandong International Sister Relations.

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Emilia Muller, minister for Federal and European Affairs of the State of Bavaria, Germany, said there’s a need for coordinated projects to protect the environment, with every country doing its part.

She said, “We should all make a joint effort to find the best solutions.”

She said climate protection is a global challenge and that there’s a need for reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, protection of rain forests and nature in general.

Global networks

Supply of energy, she said, is also another challenge and that close global networks are important if oil and gas supply is involved.

Since the end of 2008, the economic and financial crises have “shown us how necessary this global cooperation” is.

For her part, Garcia, who signed the sister- city agreement with Guandong last Oct., said cooperation and exchange have become the only way to secure the future of generations to come.

While Cebu is one of the youngest partners of Guandong, Garcia told her fellow governors that Cebu’s relations with the Chinese started way back when Chinese traders would visit the island of Cebu.

Progress

Chen Haosu, president of Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, said China’s reforms have brought progress in various fields, such as the economy, culture, social development, and urban construction and management.

Guandong Gov. Huang Huahua said that with the support from its foreign friends, Guandong has been engaged in global economic activities, until its gross domestic product (GDP) rose from $306 million in 1978 to $522.8 billion in 2008.

Some of Guandong’s sister provinces are New South Wales, Australia; Valparaiso, Chile; Queensland, Australia; Skane, Sweden; and Hyogo, Japan.

Marie Bashir, governor of New South Wales, Australia, said that this year also marked the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

“China, one of the history’s greatest civilizations, returned to the international stage united and resolute,” Bashir said.