Education is fundamental and is the long-term solution to cultivate people's green living senses, Young-Woo Park, an official with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) told chinadaily.com.cn in an exclusive interview on Tuesday in Beijing.

"We should change views of people towards the environment from the earliest stage, for example, educating children in kindergarten, elementary, middle and high schools," said Park, regional director and representative of Asia and the Pacific with the UNEP.

Young-Woo Park, regional director and representative of Asia and the Pacific with the United Nations Environment Programme.

Students should know how energy and food are produced, and the effect on environment and health, then they will know how to be less energy intensive and more climate friendly, Park said. Perhaps, they will educate their parents, also, he added.

Both the young and the older generation can practice recycling and re-use activities easily in their daily lives.

For the young, they are not yet contaminated by the western life style, which consumes too much resource. For the older, they lived through poor periods, so recycling and reuse used to be part of their lives.

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However, for people who are in 20s, 30s and 40s, especially those in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, they grow when China became affluent and economically better. They are contaminated by the western style life and tough to be educated.

In the short term, the pricing system is the best way to encourage recycling and re-use activities, Park said.

"When people can feel the decrease of their disposable income if they waste water, energy or food, they will be more conscious of the environment, while if people do not pay for their waste, they always use more than they should", said Park.

What the government should do is to map out suitable compensation schemes for those who can not afford the price hike and secure their normal use of resources.

The Chinese government has taken significant actions towards fighting climate change, Park said. The 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, for example, is environmental friendly and less energy intensive, Park said. "They really worked hard to make the Shanghai Expo a low carbon one," he said.

The UNEP will issue a report assessing the carbon footprint from the Expo at the end of the event, reviewing the goals set by the organizers and studying how a low carbon footprint, as well as how environmental responsibility and efficiency at the Expo could be achieved.