Health Checkup for Beijing: Pollution and the Olympics
|
| Event Information |
|---|
Time
February 6, 2008
2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
|
Location
Rayburn House Office Building
Room 2226
main entrance on Independence Ave SW, between 1 St SW and South Capitol St SW
|
|
Contact
Savina Rupani
(202) 457-8719
|
| Event Partner |
|---|
|
Congressional China Caucus
|
|
Keynote Speech by
The Honorable James L. Connaughton
Chairman, The White House Council on Environmental Quality
Commentators Randall L. Wilber
Senior Sport Physiologist, United States Olympic Committee
Howard M. Krawitz
Political Advisor to the Chief of Staff, United States Army, and
former Minister-Counselor for Olympic Affairs, U.S. Embassy in Beijing
Jennifer L. Turner
Director, China Environment Forum, Woodrow Wilson Center
Moderator Charles W. Freeman III
Chairholder, Freeman Chair in China Studies, CSIS
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Room 2226 Rayburn House Office Building
This event is
closed to the press, and the remarks are off the record.
With the 2008 Olympics less than seven months away, pollution and its escalating threats to human health have emerged as one of Beijing's largest headaches in its Games preparations. There has been widespread concern about Beijing's variable air quality among the Games' stakeholders, from the Beijing 2008 Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), to the international media and the athletes who will compete in August 2008.
At the outset of the bidding process in 2000, BOCOG and Beijing Municipal Government launched the "Green Olympics" concept to promote environmental sustainability of the Games. Yet, in the run-up to the Games in August 2008, the pace of improvement of Beijing's air quality is still quite slow and Beijing organizers still face severe environmental concerns in the international spotlight.
The CSIS event aims to address the environmental aspects of the Beijing Games preparation. Our guest experts will discuss Beijing's ability to fulfill its promise to deliver a "Green Olympics" various environmental challenges that Beijing organizers face, and the potential environmental legacy of the 2008 Olympics.
