How time flies! This summer, from June 28 to October 31, we completed a series of interpretation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Thanks to the international organizations and individuals who supported us, we compiled the relevant cases of the 17 goals and presented them to the supporters of sustainable development in the world, hoping to get more participation and guidance from you.

Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere

Case: Global Poverty Reduction Is Not Optimistic

Although the global poverty rate has fallen by more than half since 2000, in developing regions, 10% people and their families still live below the international poverty line of $1.90 a day, and the daily income of millions of people is barely above that level. Many countries in East and South East Asia have made significant progress, but in sub Saharan Africa, 42 percent of people still live below the poverty line. (Click here for details)

（xinhuanet.com）

Case: Shenzhen Carries Out All-Round Partner Assistance in Guangdong

Since 2013, Shenzhen has invested 14.727 billion yuan in supporting Heyuan and Shanwei, focusing on targeted poverty alleviation, industrial co-construction, infrastructure construction, people’s livelihood and other key work, and continuously reinforcing support. Shenzhen has helped 24,063 poor households and 83,951 poor people in 323 villages in Heyuan and Shanwei. Since 2016, Shenzhen has sent 464 officials, set up 10 county-level working groups and 323 village-level working teams, invested 2.04 billion yuan, and implemented 5,533 village projects and 53,000 household projects. From 2016 to 2017, Shenzhen helped 61,400 poor people get rid of poverty.

Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

Case: Developing Countries Account for Most of the Global Hunger Population

The majority of the world’s hungry people live in developing countries, where 12.9 per cent of the population is undernourished. Asia has the largest number of hungry population, accounting for two-thirds of the world's total. In recent years, the proportion of hungry population in South Asia has declined, but in West Asia it has increased slightly. South Asia faces the heaviest burden of hunger, with 281 million undernourished people. During 2014-2016, the proportion of undernourished people in sub Saharan Africa was nearly 23%. Poor nutrition causes nearly half (45 per cent) of deaths in children under five – 3.1 million children each year. In the developing world, 66 million primary school-age children are hungry, of which 23 million are in Africa alone. 

(UN photo)

Case: Executive Director of World Food Programme: China’s Experience in Eradicating Hunger Is Worth Promoting

According to Xinhua News Agency, in January 2019, David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Programme, said at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos that China has made remarkable achievements in eradicating hunger, and its successful experience is worth learning and promoting around the world. In an interview with Xinhua, Beasley said that in terms of eradicating hunger, no country has achieved more than China. “China’s successful model needs to be learned and promoted in the rest of the world.” He expressed the hope that under the framework of the World Food Programme, experiences between China and Western countries could be further exchanged and integrated. (Click here for details)

Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Case: Clever Ways to Promote Health in Some Countries

Boss Gives Pedometer to Employees and Announces the Steps

A company in Tokyo, Japan, has put forward “six suggestions for promoting health in the way of Tanita”, that is, “no smoking, less eating, less drinking, more communication, more sports and more social activities”. The company’s boss also equipped every employee with a pedometer, requiring them to walk more than 10,000 steps a day, and publicized the statistical results, so as to encourage the employees to consciously join the team of health promotion.

(Source: Photography tribe)

Saying Goodbye to Sedentary Life and Saving Steps for Money

According to the Daily Telegraph, if a British family walks at least three times a week and reaches 12,500 steps each time, they can get supermarket coupons with 15% off, coupons for sportswear, free movie tickets or fitness membership coupons. A head of the UK’s health services said that the initiative would be piloted in new towns to help the elderly and young white-collar people get rid of their sedentary habits.

Bonus for Exercise, Deduction for Failure

Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that more than half of American adults do not achieve the minimum recommended amount of exercise. In this regard, more than 80% of the country’s large companies are using material rewards to motivate employees to exercise. There was an experiment with 281 employees of a company in the country: The goal was to walk 7,000 steps a day for 13 weeks. The researchers designed three kinds of money incentive models: 1) If the goal of 7,000 steps of the day was completed, the reward of the day was $1.40. 2) A lottery ticket would be given to those who finish the goal every day. 3) Each person was prepaid the target completion bonus of $42 per month, and $1.40 would deducted for a day when the goal was not completed. The experimental results showed that the participants of the third mode had the largest amount of exercise, with their average amount of exercise 50% higher than usual, and they were all overweight and obese.

Source: Health Times

Case: Shenzhen Has Made Remarkable Achievements in Medical Reform in the Past Decade, with an Average Life Expectancy of 81.25 Years

Since 2009, the medical reforms taking place in Shenzhen have led to new developments in improving health. In Shenzhen, many reforms and innovations have emerged in the field of medicine, and due to this, Shenzhen has provided its own wisdom for national medical reforms. In the past 10 years, Shenzhen has always closely integrated the rapid growth of medical demand and the integration of the development of medical and health care throughout the special economic zone, which was expanded to the whole city in 2010. It has continuously increased investment, continued to increase the number of new construction, reconstruction and expansion projects, and promoted the balanced and coordinated development of health care. (Click here for details)

Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning

Case: Popularity of Global Basic Education Still Needs To Be Improved

The enrolment rate of primary education in developing countries has reached 91%, but there are still 57 million children out of school. More than half of the children who are not enrolled in school live in sub-Saharan Africa. It is estimated that 50% of primary school-age children who are out of school live in conflict-affected areas. There are 617 million adolescents around the world who lack basic math and literacy skills.

(UNICEF/El Baba)

Case: Shenzhen Promotes Development of All Kinds of Education with High Quality and Features

According to an official of the Shenzhen Municipal Education Bureau, strengthening the construction of public compulsory education is an important measure to improve the public’s sense of happiness through education. In 2019, Shenzhen will continue to expand and optimize the supply of basic education resources, build, rebuild or expand 18 public primary and secondary schools, and increase the quota of public primary and secondary school enrollment by 30,000 or more. (Click here for details)

Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Case: Global Gender Equality Still Needs Further Efforts

Although women’s participation in politics has made important progress on a global scale, their representation in the National Congress is only 23.7%, far from equality. Globally, women are just 13 percent of agricultural land holders. More than 100 countries have taken action to track budget allocations for gender equality. Women in Northern Africa hold less than one in five paid jobs in the non-agricultural sector. The proportion of women in paid employment outside the agriculture sector has increased from 35 per cent in 1990 to 41 per cent in 2015.Today, in 46 countries, women occupy more than 30% of seats in at least one House.

(UN photo/Eskinder Debebe)

Case: Shenzhen Promotes Gender Equality and Women’s All-Round Development

As a window of China’s reform and opening up, Shenzhen, in addition to its economic development and innovative spirit, has many outstanding experiences in promoting gender equality and women’s all-round development, and was awarded the “Award for Contribution to Women’s Development” by the “2012 China Women’s Media Award” of the UN Women. Shenzhen took the lead in promulgating the first local law on gender equality in the Chinese mainland, namely the Regulations on Promoting Gender Equality of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. (Click here for details)

Goal 6: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all

Case: Current Status of Drinking Water and Environmental Management in the World

Three tenths of the world’s population has no access to safe and managed drinking water and three fifths to safe and managed sanitation. Between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of the world’s population using improved drinking water sources increased from 76% to 90%. Water scarcity affects more than 40% of the world’s population and is expected to increase. At present, more than 1.7 billion people live in river basins with water consumption exceeding that of recharge. Four billion people lack basic sanitation, such as toilets or latrines. More than 80% of the waste water produced by human activities is discharged into rivers or oceans without treatment. Nearly a thousand children die every day from preventable diarrhoeal diseases caused by water and sanitation problems. About 70% of the water extracted from rivers, lakes and aquifers is used for irrigation. Floods and other water related disasters account for 70% of all natural disaster deaths.

(UN photo/Kibae Park)

Case: Shenzhen Comprehensively Improves Water Environment Quality

Shenzhen, with limited land and a large population, meets a serious shortage of space resources for development. In particular, the local water source is scarce, more than 70% of the city’s water source comes from outside, and there are very few options for the water supply source outside the city, so the stability of water supply security is facing challenges. At the same time, the problem of water environment pollution in Shenzhen is quite prominent, and it is very difficult to control. Although the task is arduous, Shenzhen has made outstanding achievements in water control in recent years. (Click here for details)

The beautiful Futian River in Shenzhen. After years of hard work, some indexes of some rivers in Futian District of Shenzhen have reached the best level in 30 years. (Source: Shenzhen Evening News)

Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy

Case study: Development of Global Modern Energy Still Has a Long Way to Go

13% of the global population still lacks access to modern electricity. 3 billion people rely on wood, coal, charcoal or animal waste for cooking and heating. Energy is the dominant contributor to climate change, accounting for around 60 per cent of total global greenhouse gas emissions. Indoor air pollution from using combustible fuels for household energy caused 4.3 million deaths in 2012, with women and girls accounting for 6 out of every 10 of these. The share of renewable energy in final energy consumption has reached 17.5% in 2015.

(UN photo/Eskinder Debebe)

Case: Clean Energy Industry Helps Shenzhen’s Sustainable Development

With the continuous expansion of urban population and rapid economic and social development, the problem of resource and energy security in Shenzhen is increasingly prominent. Shenzhen has weak energy self-sufficiency with high cost. Therefore, improving the efficiency of energy utilization and promoting the industrialization of clean energy technology have become important means to solve the problem of energy security and promote low-carbon development in Shenzhen. (Click here for details)

Shenzhen’s LNG terminal in Dapeng New District. (Source: China Ocean Online)

Goal 8: Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all

Case: Global Employment Still Faces Challenges

The global unemployment rate in 2017 was 5.6%, down from 6.4% in 2000. Globally, 61% of all workers were engaged in informal employment in 2016. Excluding the agricultural sector, 51% of all workers fell into this employment category. Men earn 12.5% more than women in 40 out of 45 countries with data.The global gender pay gap stands at 23 per cent globally and without decisive action, it will take another 68 years to achieve equal pay. Women’s labour force participation rate is 63 per cent while that of men is 94 per cent. Despite their increasing presence in public life, women continue to do 2.6 times the unpaid care and domestic work that men do. 470 million jobs are needed globally for new entrants to the labor market between 2016 and 2030.

(UN photo/Eskinder Debebe)

Case: Shenzhen’s Multiple Efforts to Maintain Talent Competitiveness for Urban Sustainable Development

In the past 40 years of reform and opening up, Shenzhen has developed from an obscure border town to an international city of more than 20 million people, creating the world-famous “Shenzhen Speed”. According to the latest data, Shenzhen is already a first-tier city in China with the third largest GDP, and its salary level is also among the highest in the country. Shenzhen has become a world-famous “capital of innovation and entrepreneurship”. (Click here for details)

Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

Case: Global Industry and Innovation Still Have Great Potential

Basic infrastructure like roads, information and communication technologies, sanitation, electrical power and water remains scarce in many developing countries. 16% of the global population does not have access to mobile broadband networks. For many African countries, particularly the lower-income countries, the existent constraints regarding infrastructure affect firm productivity by around 40 per cent. The global share of manufacturing value added in GDP increased from 15.2% in 2005 to 16.3% in 2017, driven by the fast growth of manufacturing in Asia. Industrialization’s job multiplication effect has a positive impact on society. Every job in manufacturing creates 2.2 jobs in other sectors. Small and medium-sized enterprises that engage in industrial processing and manufacturing are the most critical for the early stages of industrialization and are typically the largest job creators. They make up over 90 per cent of business worldwide and account for between 50-60 per cent of employment. Least developed countries have immense potential for industrialization in food and beverages (agro-industry), and textiles and garments, with good prospects for sustained employment generation and higher productivity. Middle-income countries can benefit from entering the basic and fabricated metals industries, which offer a range of products facing rapidly growing international demand. In developing countries, barely 30 per cent of agricultural production undergoes industrial processing. In high-income countries, 98 per cent is processed. This suggests that there are great opportunities for developing countries in agribusiness.

(UN photo/Kibae Park)

Case: Shenzhen Develops Emerging High-Tech Industries, Builds International Innovation Capital

Shenzhen is the first national innovative city and the first national independent innovation demonstration area with the city as the basic unit. For a long time, Shenzhen has adhered to innovation as the leading strategy of the city. With the added value of emerging industries accounting for more than 40% of its GDP, Shenzhen has become the city with the largest scale and strongest agglomeration of emerging industries in China. (Click here for details)

Big-size humanoid service robots developed by a Shenzhen company perform at the Spring Festival Gala of China's national television station. (Source: Science and Technology Education Space for Youth, sohu.com)

Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries

Case: Global Joint Efforts to Reduce Inequality

In 2016, over 64.4% of products exported by the least developed countries to world markets faced zero tariffs, an increase of 20% since 2010. Evidence from developing countries shows that children in the poorest 20 per cent of the populations are still up to three times more likely to die before their fifth birthday than children in the richest quintiles. Social protection has been significantly extended globally, yet persons with disabilities are up to five times more likely than average to incur catastrophic health expenditures. Despite overall declines in maternal mortality in most developing countries, women in rural areas are still up to three times more likely to die while giving birth than women living in urban centers. Up to 30 per cent of income inequality is due to inequality within households, including between women and men. Women are also more likely than men to live below 50 per cent of the median income.

(Public Welfare School Online)

Case: Shenzhen Fully Guarantees Living Rights and Interests of Low-Income Residents and Disabled People

Along with its rapid economic development, Shenzhen has continuously increased investment in people’s livelihood, focused on improving people’s living standards, established a relatively complete social security system, especially for the protection of the rights and interests of low-income groups and disabled people, and made remarkable achievements drawing attention of the whole country, so that all citizens can share the fruits of economic development. (Click here for details)

Goal 11: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Case: Committed to Building Sustainable Cities and Communities, the World Is Changing

Half of humanity – 3.5 billion people – lives in cities today and 5 billion people are projected to live in cities by 2030. 95 per cent of urban expansion in the next decades will take place in developing world. 883 million people live in slums today and most them are found in Eastern and South-Eastern Asia. The world’s cities occupy just 3 per cent of the Earth’s land, but account for 60-80 per cent of energy consumption and 75 per cent of carbon emissions. Rapid urbanization is exerting pressure on fresh water supplies, sewage, the living environment, and public health. As of 2016, 90% of urban dwellers have been breathing unsafe air, resulting in 4.2 million deaths due to ambient air pollution. More than half of the global urban population were exposed to air pollution levels at least 2.5 times higher than the safety standard.

The Gardens by the Bay in Singapore. Since its opening in October 2011, it has been praised for its sustainable design. (Source: 360 Personal Library)

Case: Smart City Construction Improves Shenzhen’s Urban Governance Capacity

A smart city is the effective integration of advanced information technologies and urban management service concepts. Through the digital network management of urban geography, resources, environment, economy, society and other systems, the real-time processing and digital utilization of urban infrastructure, basic environment, and industries and facilities related to production and life, a smart city can provide  more convenient, efficient and flexible innovative operation and service modes for urban public management and services. At present, Shenzhen’s smart city construction has led the country. (Click here for details)

Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

Case: The World Is Making Effects to Revitalize Sustainable Consumption and Production

93% of the world’s 250 largest companies are now reporting on sustainability. Less than 3 per cent of the world’s water is fresh (drinkable), of which 2.5 per cent is frozen in the Antarctica, Arctic and glaciers. Humanity must therefore rely on 0.5 per cent for all of man’s ecosystem’s and fresh water needs. Humankind is polluting water in rivers and lakes faster than nature can recycle and purify. If people worldwide switched to energy efficient lightbulbs, the world would save US$120 billion annually. Despite technological advances that have promoted energy efficiency gains, energy use in OECD countries will continue to grow another 35 per cent by 2020. Commercial and residential energy use is the second most rapidly growing area of global energy use after transport. In 2002 the motor vehicle stock in OECD countries was 550 million vehicles (75 per cent of which were personal cars). A 32 per cent increase in vehicle ownership is expected by 2020. At the same time, motor vehicle kilometers are projected to increase by 40 per cent and global air travel is projected to triple in the same period. Households consume 29 per cent of global energy and consequently contribute to 21 per cent of resultant CO2 emissions. The share of renewable energy in final energy consumption has reached 17.5% in 2015. Each year, an estimated 1/3 of all food produced – equivalent to 1.3 billion tons worth around $1 trillion – ends up rotting in the bins of consumers and retailers, or spoiling due to poor transportation and harvesting practices. Land degradation, declining soil fertility, unsustainable water use, overfishing and marine environment degradation are all lessening the ability of the natural resource base to supply food. The food sector accounts for around 30 per cent of the world’s total energy consumption and accounts for around 22 per cent of total Greenhouse Gas emissions.

The Low Carbon Energy Centre located in Greenwich Peninsula, Britain is committed to low carbon emission reduction (Source: Zhulong Study Group)

Case: Shenzhen Develops Circular Economy to Build a Green and Low Carbon City

Sustainable consumption and production mainly focus on “reducing consumption, increasing production and improving quality”, so as to create a green, low-carbon and circular development mode. Shenzhen is in the leading position nationwide in this respect. In August 2019, the Research Report on the Evaluation of China’s Green and Low-Carbon Cities, issued by the Institute for Urban and Environmental Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and other organizations, showed that Shenzhen ranked second among the service-oriented cities in China’s green and low-carbon cities. (Click here for details)

The International Low Carbon City in Shenzhen is the flagship project of China-EU sustainable urbanization cooperation, focusing on the development of low-carbon strategic emerging industries such as low-carbon service industry, intelligent green information technology, energy conservation and environmental protection. It aims to become a national low-carbon development demonstration zone. (Source: Longgang Government Online)

Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

Case: Global Solidarity to Cope with Climate Change

As of April 2018, 175 parties had ratified the Paris Agreement and 168 parties had communicated their first nationally determined contributions to the UN framework convention on Climate Change Secretariat. As of April 2018, 10 developing countries had successfully completed and submitted their first iteration of their national adaptation plans for responding to climate change.

Developed country parties continue to make progress towards the goal of jointly mobilizing $100 billion annually by 2020 for mitigation actions. From 1880 to 2012, average global temperature increased by 0.85°C. To put this into perspective, for each 1 degree of temperature increase, grain yields decline by about 5 per cent. Maize, wheat and other major crops have experienced significant yield reductions at the global level of 40 megatons per year between 1981 and 2002 due to a warmer climate.

Oceans have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished and sea level has risen. From 1901 to 2010, the global average sea level rose by 19 cm as oceans expanded due to warming and ice melted. The Arctic’s sea ice extent has shrunk in every successive decade since 1979, with 1.07 million km2 of ice loss every decade. Given current concentrations and on-going emissions of greenhouse gases, it is likely that by the end of this century, the increase in global temperature will exceed 1.5°C compared to 1850 to 1900 for all but one scenario. The world’s oceans will warm and ice melt will continue. Average sea level rise is predicted as 24 – 30cm by 2065 and 40-63cm by 2100. Most aspects of climate change will persist for many centuries even if emissions are stopped. Global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) have increased by almost 50 per cent since 1990. Emissions grew more quickly between 2000 and 2010 than in each of the three previous decades. It is still possible, using a wide array of technological measures and changes in behavior, to limit the increase in global mean temperature to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Major institutional and technological change will give a better than even chance that global warming will not exceed this threshold.

The Climate Action Summit, convened and hosted by UN Secretary-General Guterres, is held in New York on September 23, 2019. (UN Photo/Loey Felipe)

Case: Shenzhen Takes Action to Cope with Climate Change

Climate change concerns the overall situation of economic and social development. As one of the first batch of low-carbon pilot cities in China, Shenzhen has been adhering to green and low-carbon development, promoting ecological environment protection, and controlling greenhouse gas emissions, and achieved remarkable results. (Click here for details)

According to the national air quality status from January  to June 2019 released by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Shenzhen ranks third among 168 cities nationwide, after  Haikou and Lhasa. “Shenzhen Blue” and “Shenzhen Green” has become a beautiful business card of the city. (Source: Shenzhen Government online)

Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development 

Case: Opportunities and Challenges Coexist for Global Ocean Sustainable Development

Oceans cover three quarters of the Earth’s surface, contain 97 per cent of the Earth’s water, and represent 99 per cent of the living space on the planet by volume. Over three billion people depend on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods. Globally, the market value of marine and coastal resources and industries is estimated at $3 trillion per year or about 5 per cent of global GDP. Oceans contain nearly 200,000 identified species, but actual numbers may lie in the millions. Oceans absorb about 30 per cent of carbon dioxide produced by humans, buffering the impacts of global warming. Oceans serve as the world’s largest source of protein, with more than 3 billion people depending on the oceans as their primary source of protein. Marine fisheries directly or indirectly employ over 200 million people. Subsidies for fishing are contributing to the rapid depletion of many fish species and are preventing efforts to save and restore global fisheries and related jobs, causing ocean fisheries to generate US$50 billion less per year than they could. Open Ocean sites show current levels of acidity have increased by 26 per cent since the start of the Industrial Revolution. Coastal waters are deteriorating due to pollution and eutrophication. Without concerted efforts, coastal eutrophication is expected to increase in 20 percent of large marine ecosystems by 2050.

(UN photo/Martine Perret)

Case: Shenzhen Protects Marine Environment, Builds Global Marine Center City

Shenzhen has 1,145 square kilometers of sea area and 206 kilometers of coastline. In the past 30 years, the ocean has provided important service support for the rapid development of Shenzhen, such as food supply, space support, leisure and entertainment, but at the same time, the expansion of the city has also caused a significant impact on the marine ecological environment. In building a new pattern of urban green development, Shenzhen adheres to ecological priority, strengthens land and sea coordination, strictly adheres to the ecological red lines and protects the natural coastline. (Click here for details)

Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification,and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

Case: The Lion’s Share Fund

On 21 June, 2018, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), FINCH and founding partner Mars, Incorporated, announced the Lion’s Share, an initiative aimed at transforming the lives of animals across the world by asking advertisers to contribute a percentage of their media spend to conservation and animal welfare projects.  The Lion’s Share will see partners contribute 0.5 percent of their media spend to the fund for each advertisement they use featuring an animal. Those funds will be used to support animals and their habitats around the world. The Fund is seeking to raise US$100m a year within three years, with the money being invested in a range of wildlife conservation and animal welfare programs to be implemented by United Nations and civil society organizations.

(UN photo)

Case: Paying Equal Attention to Protection and Development, Shenzhen Builds Model City for “Beautiful China”

Over the years, Shenzhen has paid equal attention to protection and development, and vigorously built a good forest ecological environment. In 2018, Shenzhen was entitled “National Forest City” by the State Forestry and Grassland Administration. At present, the forest coverage rate in Shenzhen has reached 40.68%, and the green coverage rate in the built-up area is 45.1%. Shenzhen has a total of 942 parks and an average green park area of 15.95 square meters per capita. Shenzhen has built a model city for the construction of “Beautiful China”, vigorously promoted the sustainable development of economy and society, and achieved a win-win situation of beauty and development. (Click here for details)

The Honey Park in Shenzhen is a sample of a sponge city park. (Photo by He Long. Source: Shenzhen Special Zone Daily)

Goal 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

Case: International Justice Faces Severe Challenges

Among the institutions most affected by corruption are the judiciary and police. Corruption, bribery, theft and tax evasion cost some US $1.26 trillion for developing countries per year; this amount of money could be used to lift those who are living on less than $1.25 a day above $1.25 for at least six years. Birth registration has occurred for 73 per cent of children under 5, but only 46% of Sub-Saharan Africa have had their births registered. Approximately 28.5 million primary school age who are out of school live in conflict-affected areas. The rule of law and development have a significant interrelation and are mutually reinforcing, making it essential for sustainable development at the national and international level. The proportion of prisoners held in detention without sentencing has remained almost constant in the last decade, at 31% of all prisoners.

(UN photo/Stuart Price)

Case: Shenzhen Vigorously Promotes Construction of Model City for Rule of Law in China

Shenzhen has always attached great importance to the construction of the rule of law, taking the lead in proposing the strategic goal of building a “model city for rule of law in China”. In September 2018, the Blue Book of Governments Under Rule of Law - Evaluation Report of China’s Governments Under Rule of Law (2018), released by the Institute of Governments Under Rule of Law, China University of Political Science and Law, showed that Shenzhen ranked first in 100 participating cities with a total score of 790.13. Shenzhen has become one of the most secure, stable, fair and just cities in China with the best legal environment. (Click here for details)

Goal 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development 

Case: Global Partnership Is Booming

Official development assistance stood at $146.6 billion in 2017. This represents a decrease of 0.6 per cent in real terms over 2016. 79 per cent of imports from developing countries enter developed countries duty-free. The debt burden on developing countries remains stable at about 3 per cent of export revenue. The number of Internet users in Africa almost doubled in the past four years. 30 per cent of the world’s youth are digital natives, active online for at least five years. But more four billion people do not use the Internet, and 90 per cent of them are from the developing world.

(UN photo/Isaac Billy) 

Shenzhen Shares Experience on Sustainable Development with World

In recent years, Shenzhen has planned an opening-up layout with a global perspective, actively participated in global sustainable development, established open platforms for domestic and international cooperation, strived to achieve a higher level of internal and external connection and two-way opening, and shared it’s experience on sustainable development domestically and internationally. (Click here for details)

The Shenzhen-Shanwei Special Cooperation Zone of Shenzhen Municipality is a model of regional cooperation and coordinated development. (Photo by Li Xingzhao. Source: Shenzhen Economic Daily)

●Summary of Experiences

Shenzhen Becomes Pioneer and Leading City of Sustainable Development

In recent years, Shenzhen has been striving to practice sustainable development and has made remarkable achievements. Sustainable development is a solemn commitment of Shenzhen to its residents and a beautiful agreement with the future.

Multiple “Firsts” in Promoting Sustainable Development

According to Qiu Xuan, secretary of the Party group of Shenzhen Municipal Commission of Science and Technology Innovation, Shenzhen has firmly held the “rudder” of sustainable development when making the top-level design, creating a number of “firsts” in China -- Shenzhen is the first city conducting PM2.5 source analysis in China, the first city adopting VOC coating technology specification, the first city where ocean going ships use land electricity during the berthing period, the first city where all buses use new energy, and a city that built the first carbon exchange market in China...

From the first step of urban planning, Shenzhen has set the tone for sustainable development. Shenzhen adheres to the group structure, establishes the development pattern of “highly sparse, highly dense”, adheres to the ecological bottom lines, and strictly protects the natural environment. The city improves land efficiency, and excavates the potential of existing space. It advocates green life, and provides convenient and low-carbon travel options. It strengthens urban humanity, and creates a safe and green support system. It promotes public participation, and listens to each group.

Science and Technology Helps Pursue Sustainable Development

Sustainable development is not slow development. We should take sustainability into account while pursuing development speed. Scientific and technological innovation is the trump card. Up to now, Shenzhen has established five Nobel Prize laboratories, 13 new type basic research institutions and seven overseas innovation centers. In total, 41 provincial new type research and development institutions and 1,877 innovation carriers, including national, provincial and municipal key laboratories, engineering laboratories, and engineering research centers, have been built in Shenzhen. In order to promote the sustainable development of Shenzhen, the city has set up special science and technology projects for sustainable development, accelerates the transformation and application of scientific and technological achievements, focuses on technologies related to people’s livelihood such as efficient utilization of resources, ecological environment control, the construction of “Healthy Shenzhen”, and social governance, and plays the supporting and leading role of science and technology in the sustainable development of economy, society and environment.

City of Volunteers Promotes Sustainable Development

Shenzhen is a “City of Volunteers”. A high-quality volunteer team has added impetus to the sustainable development of the city. At present, the city has 1.65 million registered volunteers, 11,000 registered volunteer service organizations, and 2,013 volunteer service organizations registered as legal persons in the social organization administration bureaus. The Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League of China has established 1,022 professional volunteer service teams in 19 fields, such as traffic facilitation, garbage classification, and community drug control. In hospitals, courts, taxation bureaus, social security bureaus, ports and other areas directly facing the people, 35 characteristic U Stations have been set up, achieving certain social effect.

Source: Shenzhen Economic Daily

●Coming Next

The interpretation of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals has come to an end, and we will move forward with you to open a new chapter. Next, we will introduce to you the 169 targets of sustainable development, sharing more exciting stories and cases. Stay tuned!