The press conference of the 2011 International Technology Forum on Innovation and Low-Carbon Development and TPT Beijing Meeting, May 19, 2011.

Political and business heavyweights are set to find ways for low-carbon growth at a forum in Beijing next month.

The two-day event, the 2011 International Technology Forum on Innovation and Low-Carbon Development and The Performance Theatre Beijing Meeting (TPT), will open on June 16, said the organizers at a press conference in Beijing.

As its name suggests, "the forum will mainly focus on low-carbon growth, as it is the single most important question for us all", said Osvald M. Bjelland, the vice-chairman of the TPT foundation.

"The world's population is to reach 9 billion by the year 2050 and we need to adopt a new approach to development that doesn't destroy the very resources based on which we build this growth," he said.

Among the green-house gases, carbon poses the biggest challenge and, according to Bjelland, tackling the carbon problem will in turn address other environmental problems.

Meanwhile, the conventional approach to growth has gone very far. Though the wealth generated in the last hundred year surpassed that of the previous 100,000 years, globally there are still more than one billion people living in absolute poverty, which is bad news for ethics, security, and business, said Bjelland.

He added that China's future growth needed to focus on clean energy, sustainable consumption and low-carbon cities.

[editor hannah]