Mr. Karl Östen Ekengren, an international partner of the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences (CRAES) and former vice president of the IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, has been awarded the 2024 Chinese Government Friendship Award.
Mr. Ekengren is a world-renowned expert in environmental and low-carbon sustainable development. Over the past four decades, he has dedicated himself to scientific cooperation between China and Sweden. Under his leadership, the IVL has established two representative offices and two subsidiaries in China, conducted over 50 international cooperation programs, introduced more than 70 environmental protection equipment, and assisted China in applying for funding worth hundreds of millions of yuan for projects in areas such as municipal industrial wastewater, drinking water sources, eutrophication, and circular economy. Together with the Chinese Embassy in Sweden, he has organized and supported several high-level China-Sweden low-carbon sustainable summits, inviting over a thousand participants for cooperation and exchange. Additionally, he has contributed to the development of China’s environmental pollutant discharge permitting system through book publications and other forms. It’s especially worth noting that he continued his work on China-Sweden cooperation even when struggled against cancer. In 2015 and 2023, he was twice nominated for the Haihe Friendship Award by the Tianjin Municipal People’s Government.
Mr. Ekengren has also played a significant role in fostering successful cooperation between the CRAES and IVL. Over the past decade, he has visited the CRAES many times, engaging in discussions on topics like atmospheric environment and sustainable development. His efforts led to the establishment of the Sino-Swedish Joint Laboratory for Air Sciences and Technologies, where the two sides cooperated on photochemical smog mechanisms, volatile organic compound control, atmospheric monitoring equipment comparisons, and joint application for the EU Horizon Project. Building on years of cooperation, the two sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding on scientific cooperation in ecological and environmental protection in 2023, aiming to broaden cooperation areas, deepen strategic partnership, and promote multi-level and multi-field practical exchanges and cooperation on climate change, atmospheric environment, research management experience, and other topics.
Mr. Ekengren visited the CRAES on June 12, 2019.
Li Haisheng, President of CRAES, met with Mr. Ekengren to discuss topics including sustainable development and environmental protection on April 10, 2024.
