Macau, 3 June 2023

In response to global efforts to conserve energy and emission reduction efforts, as well as to encourage students to practice energy-saving in their daily lives and to motivate citizens to change their habits of energy consumption in order to build a low-carbon lifestyle, CEM organized the "CEM Cup" - Energy Saving and Carbon Reduction Debating Competition for the first time at Centro de Actividades do Bairro do Hipódromo in the afternoon of 3 June 2023 with the Debating and Speech Culture Association of Macao as the technical support entity. The eight schools battled fiercely and the participating secondary school students conducted in-depth discussions on the relevant topics through the debates. In the end, Escola Kao Yip outshone opponents and won the championship.

Guests attending the Award Ceremony included: Samio Lou, Head of Development and Management of the Energy Sector Department of Environmental Protection Bureau; Wong Chio In, Head of Division of Educational Planning and Facilities of Education and Youth Affairs Bureau; Benjamin Yue, Principal Advisor to CEM Executive Committee; Cecilia Nip, Director of CEM Regulatory Affairs and Corporate Communications Office; Judging panel: Stephen Chok, Chairman of the Macao Institution of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Lai Kin Weng, Director of the Macau Institute of Engineers, Liu Jingjing, Chairman of the Council of Chinese Debate Association, Ricardo Chan, Vice Chairman of Debating and Speech Culture Association of Macao and Lau Ka Va, Engineer of CEM Generation Department.

In his speech, Benjamin Yue said that it was the first time CEM organizing a debating competition themed on environmental protection and energy conservation. It is hoped that through the debates, participating secondary school students can learn about energy conservation and carbon reduction, acquire the correct concepts, develop good habits and eventually spread the message to every corner of society. CEM has always been supportive to the Macau SAR Government's " carbon dioxide emission peak and carbon neutrality" target policy and has been aligning with the national's development strategy of environmental protection. CEM has been striving to improve the charging service network for electric vehicles and speed up the installation of smart meters, encouraging the public to opt for green commute and supporting the construction of a smart city. So far, the coverage of EV charging facilities in public car parks has increased to 93% and more than 130,000 smart meters have been installed.

The competition received enthusiastic responses, with a total of 16 schools registered. Earlier, eight schools were selected through a drawing to compete in four rounds of debates on different topics.

Both affirmative and opposition teams of the debate teams from each school were well-prepared for different topics and engage in exciting debates with piercing speeches and brilliant arguments from different perspectives. They demonstrated excellent debating skills and display good debating etiquette. In the end, Escola Kao Yip stood out with their exceptional performance, achieving the highest scores and clinching the championship. The judging panel provided valuable feedback for participating students after each round of debate.

Winning schools:

Best Debaters: