Leave our children a prosperous feature

China, like other countries, has its difficulties, which should be made known to other countries, Ye said.

For instance, he added, resources like fresh water which comes mainly from the melting glaciers, are limited and not sustainable. Places like Xinjiang in the northwest of China, relies on this process for most of its water supply.

"Global warming is bringing more water for this area from the Kunlun Mountains, which is great for agriculture and economy at present. But that's actually consuming the future supply, what can we leave our future generations if the water has run out?" he said.

"We also have the ecological vulnerable zones, such as the Sanjiangyuan area, the place where the world famous Yangtze River, the Yellow River and the Lancang River originate."

The elderly academician has focused on this area for several decades; he explained that "it faces the issues of vegetation degradation and deteriorating ecological environment. Both global warming and increased human activity pose a significant threat to the local environment."

"We need to find a plan to prevent the situation from getting worse leaving the future generations nothing," he added.

The area has improved after an ecological protection project was launched in 2005.

The Sanjiangyuan area, Qinghai province, northwest China.[File Photo]

In these circumstances, efforts on climate change will be a great opportunity to change the models of economic development and separate economic growth from the increase of carbon emissions, Ye said.

The Copenhagen Conference was a chance for China to cut more emissions, he added. Faced with the negative attitude of developed countries, China should have been more active. It's time to withdraw the narrow nationalism and discuss the issue from international and scientific angles.