Organized by the College of Engineering, Peking University, the 2014 Global Conference on Global Warming (GCGW) was grandly held at Zhongguanyuan Global Village of Peking University on May 26-29. GCGW2014 is a multi-disciplinary international conference on the global warming and climate change issues and potential solutions. The GCGW2014 includes 8 keynote lectures, 26 invited talks for parallel panel sessions and specialized sessions.

Started from May 26, the mission of the GCGW conference is to serve as a platform for scientists and engineers to leverage their collective strengths for the advancement of strategies against global warming and climate change. Over 200 science and engineering researchers from more than 40 countries attended the conference, covering extensive themes and global warming related topics.

At the opening ceremony, Professor Xin-Rong Zhang, general chair of the conference, extended his sincere welcome to all the GCGW attendees. Global warming is a serious issue and has drawn attentions all over the world. The aim of this conference is to assembly international scientists, researchers, engineers, policy makers and others that focus on global warming and potential solutions.

Then, the Honorary Chair of the conference, Professor Ibrahim Dincer gave a welcoming remark. He emphasized that this conference will provide a platform for the dissemination of state-of-the-art researches, technical interactions between participants, the presentation of the new developments in the area of global warming and climate change, and the debate and shaping of future directions and priorities for better environment, sustainable development and energy security.

Professor Shiyi Chen, vice president of PKU introduced the history and recent development of the university and the College of Engineering. In recent years, PKU has cultivated and brought in a great number of high-caliber faculty and researchers, established many first-class research laboratories, made use of its advantages in basic disciplines, and strived to become a world-class university that is research-oriented.

The opening speech was made by the Previous Director of Energy Research Institute National Development and Reform Commission, Dadi Zhou and the Director of National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation, Junfeng Li. They introduced the current development of Chinese policy and strategies on climate change control, energy saving and resource transition. They hope that this conference can be a good start for global collaboration on the specific field.

Subsequently, keynote speaker Professor Dongxiao Zhang, Dean of the College of Engineering, gave a keynote lecture entitled “Shale Gas Development and the Environment”. Then, Professor Ronald Wennersten delivered a keynote lecture on “Strategies for Energy Transition and Climate Change Mitigation for Urban Development”.

During the four days, the attendees discussed common problems that challenge Global Warming in 13 sessions: General Climate Change Problems and Basic Trends, Scientific Innovations for Climate Change Issues, Thermal System and Heat Transfer Related Topics, Forest Studies, Energy Storage, Water and Energy Flow Studies, Marine Renewable Energy, Waste Treatment and Pollution Control, Hydrogen and Methane Studies, Energy Technology and Global Warming Solutions, Climate Change and Industry Development, Energy Efficiency and Resources Management. The Attendees shared their individual engineering, research and technology transfer experiences in their universities and countries. They expressed that in the increasingly globalized world, understanding and communications between different universities and different countries are very important, and they found the conference refreshing and informative.