Prof Mohan Munasinghe delivers Keynote at Tianjin Summit with Nobel Laureates

Prof Mohan Munasinghe delivers Keynote at Tianjin Summit with Nobel Laureates - Press Releases | Daily Mirror

Prof. Mohan Munasinghe, 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Co-Laureate and 2021 Blue Planet Laureate with Prof. Pierre Agostini, 2023 Nobel Physics Prize Laureate. They were both keynote speakers at the high level Tianjin Summit, China, held 18-21 October 2025.

Professor Mohan Munasinghe, 2021 Blue Planet Prize Laureate and co-winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize for Peace, recently delivered a keynote speech at the high level Tianjin Forum in China on 18-21 October 2025. This scientific summit followed the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit held two weeks earlier, which featured the Asian consensus among Presidents Xi (China) and Putin (Russia), and Prime Minister Modi (India).  The Tianjin Forum focused on Technological Innovation and Future Cities. It attracted over 400 participants -- senior decisionmakers from governments and international organizations, world renowned scientists including nobel laureates, and city and business leaders.

Prof. Munasinghe emphasized the importance of integrating and balancing the sustainable development triangle, including economic, social and environmental dimensions, which he first proposed at the 1992 UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. He also explained how to achieve good governance through multi-stakeholder cooperation via the sustainability implementation triangle, with business, civil society and government working together.

He advocated supporting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, to achieve the 21^st century earth civilization. Prof. Munasinghe recommends integrating climate change into national sustainable development strategy. He stressed that cities are the starting point for a digital technology-led, smart sustainability transformation focusing on greener infrastructure and better governance. Digital technology will facilitate both sustainable production and consumption. Prof. Munasinghe offered hope, expressing faith in the youth to lead the way forward — if they learn from the past.

The BRICS+ led Global Majority (85% of the global population) are shifting away from the Western-led unipolar world order that relied on military force, punitive sanctions, and USD dominance. They prefer a more balanced, multipolar world, with priorities focusing on sustainable development, poverty eradication, peaceful trade, cultural links, etc. Now, with digital, green and other new technologies, there are more opportunities for poor countries to level the playing field and restore their dignity and self-respect. He also called for the Peace Community to bridge the gap between BRICS+ and the west, to build a more prosperous, conflict-free world, and especially to avoid nuclear World War 3.

Prof. Munasinghe is Chairman of the MIND Group in Colombo, which includes the non-profit Munasinghe Institute for Development (MIND), a UN recognized centre of excellence working globally on all aspects of sustainable development, and MIND AM focusing on data analytics and management. He is Chairman of Climate & Conservation Consortium (CCC), and Chairman of Asian Geopolitics, Sustainability and Peace Council (AGSPEC). He is also Board Director of the Eureka Group and Distinguished Guest Professor at Peking University, China.  He is Chairman of the President’s Expert Committee that prepared the report on Sustainable Sri Lanka 2030 Vision. A globally recognized expert, his work has contributed to key international agreements like the 1992 Agenda 21 & UNFCCC, 1997 Kyoto Protocol, 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and UN 2030 Agenda & Sustainable Development Goals.