On May 12th, an earthquake with 8.0 magnitude occurred in Wenchuan county of Sichuan Province of China. Hundreds of thousands of people died in this tragedy. Environmental Defense Fund which is headquartered in New York is highly concerned about the disaster and made contributions right away. Daniel Dudek, Chief Economist of Environmental Defense Fund is deeply touched by the tragedy. As one of the expert in CCICED, Doctor Dudek write a letter to Mr.Zhu Guangyao, Secretary General of CCICED, to express his prayers and wishes to everyone suffering from the earthquake, and makes suggestions that to embrace the rebuilding process in Sichuan into the remit of the rural environment and energy task force

The letter is as follows.

Secretary General Zhu

China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development

Ministry of Environmental Protection

Beijing, China

Dear Secretary General Zhu:

It is with great sadness that I write this letter. We, at Environmental Defense Fund, have been watching with anxiety the dramatic struggle of the Chinese people to respond to the crisis caused by the earthquake disaster in Sichuan. I cannot tell you how deeply we have been touched by witnessing the suffering of so many families. However, we have been heartened by seeing the government’s swift reaction. With people from around the world we send our prayers and hopes that recovery efforts are speedy and that the local people afflicted by this tragedy find relief soon.

It was not long ago that I met with representatives from the Sichuan Environmental Protection Bureau to discuss our cooperation in identifying agricultural production practice changes that would both mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and help farmers adapt to climate change. It has been our plan to implement some of these practices as demonstration projects in several counties including Guang Yuan. At that time, our thoughts were toward a bright future of cooperation together. Unfortunately, Guang Yuan was hard hit by the earthquake.

Being so far away from the disaster, we are limited in our ability to help those in need. However, we can contribute financial assistance to the relief and recovery effort. To this end, Environmental Defense Fund has contributed $50,000 to support these efforts in Guang Yuan county through a fund established at the Chinese Association for Nongovernmental Organization Cooperation who has been designated by the Ministry of Commerce to receive and disburse overseas contributions. In addition, through our Beijing office, we have donated 100,000 rmb for general relief in Sichuan. We have also helped to organize donations from the public through our “green commuting” outreach events in Beijing. Two of these were held during the weekend of May 17 when 2 new companies joined the “green commuting” campaign in public events. We will continue to raise public awareness of the need for and opportunity to help during our recruitment and public outreach efforts.

As we move forward in the work of CCICED, we plan to include the rebuilding process in Sichuan in the remit of the rural environment and energy task force to which I have been recently appointed as co-chair. As the inevitable climate change progresses, natural disasters may be an unfortunate and increasing possibility in rural areas. I am sure that there will be useful lessons for all of us in studying the Sichuan disaster.

On a personal note, I am also sorry that you will not be able to travel to the United States to meet with us in New York, but I understand the urgency of the situation and the need for everyone to do their utmost to aid those stricken.

Once again, I send all of our hopes and wishes that everyone touched by this disaster will soon find healing, peace, and comfort.

Yours truly,

Daniel J. Dudek

Chief Economist