R.K., you are our eternal memory. Your thoughts twinkle like stars in the night sky, illuminating the darkness every day; and your spirit is as natural as the abundant autumn fruits that follow the blossoming of spring flowers. You have left us the richest legacy, allowing us to reserve inexhaustible strength on the road to protecting the planet. We uphold your values and use our abilities and actions to inspire 1.8 billion young people to join the action to protect our planet.

R.K., it has been five years since you left us, but in the deepest depths of my heart, I have never forgotten your image and vision.

On the 85th anniversary of your birth, memories resurface like a film. I remember that during your illness in 2019, you insisted on meeting with us weekly to discuss plans for a “University of Sustainable Development.” After you designed the university’s model, you told me, “In the future, everyone on the earth should have access to lifelong education. I am willing to support you wholeheartedly for this vision for the rest of my life.” In this May, when I saw that an AI night school in Zhangge, Longhua, Shenzhen, China had organized children as young as a few years old and 70-year-olds to learn how to apply AI tools in the same classroom, I was so pleased because your vision was being realized in my city. When I saw Foxconn University in Foxconn’s industrial park in Shenzhen, China, I was so excited because your vision was being realized by the managers of this global industrial lighthouse, and I saw your legacy bearing fruit in China.

I recall that in the summer of 2019, as your health was improving, you ambitiously prepared for the second World Sustainable Development Forum in Durango, Mexico, in March 2020. You sincerely invited Mr. Xu Zhijun (Eric Xu), Huawei’s rotating chairman, to be a guest speaker to promote Huawei’s culture of social responsibility. Huawei’s actions turned out to be just as you hoped. At the second World Sustainable Development Forum, shrouded in the shadow of the pandemic, it was Huawei’s sponsorship of teleconferencing equipment that ensured the forum could allow former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to overcome the pandemic’s restrictions and host your memorial service from his home in Seoul using Huawei-sponsored teleconferencing equipment, 15 days after your passing. Huawei practiced the concept of sustainable development and social responsibility, and supported the successful holding of the second World Sustainable Development Forum, allowing world leaders and other attendees to better understand your vision and ideas on combating climate change and protecting our planet.

A letter from Dr. R.K. Pachauri to Mr. Xu Zhijun (Eric Xu).

You sincerely invited Yi Zhenhua, chairman of Enjoy Manor in Yingde, China, to attend the second World Sustainable Development Forum to showcase their work on rural revitalization and poverty alleviation. However, due to the pandemic, they were unable to attend. To fulfill your last wish, I have collaborated with Enjoy Manor in Yingde over the three difficult years of the pandemic to create an eco-friendly tea to commemorate you. After numerous setbacks, we finally developed a health-enhancing tea in 2024, with the teacup made of 100% biodegradable materials and to be refilled multiple times. We named it “Pachauri Tea.” On July 23, 2025, Dr. Cai Bin, the IMCC’s chief representative in New York, presented “Pachauri Tea” on my behalf to attendees at the general debate of the ministerial segment of the United Nation’s High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development. It was praised by the attendees.

We have pledged to allocate 3% of the profits from sales of this tea to a “Sustainable Development Fund” to support actions to improve climate and illuminate 1.8 billion young people. This will further your vision, enrich your legacy, and express my everlasting respect for you, R.K., my mentor and comrade on the road to sustainable development.

Founder,

International Mayors Communication Centre, an NGO in special consultative status with the United Nations

August 20, 2025

At the International Mayors Communication Centre Building, Shenzhen, China