In September 2016, the International Mayors Communication Centre (IMCC) established Green City (Shenzhen) Public Service Co., Ltd. (GCPS). In November 2017, GCPS founded the Open Green City Laboratory (OGCLab). The OGCLab advocates for and practices the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the hope of achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The OGCLab is a green networking platform where global ideas, technologies, products and funds are connected sustainably to advance urban sustainable development.

In February 2018, the State Council of China approved the request of both the Guangdong Provincial Government and the Ministry of Science and Technology to build a national innovation demonstration zone in Shenzhen for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Shenzhen-based OGCLab aims to implement the agenda. It will bring together global city stakeholders including but not limited to decision makers, media, NGOs, city operators, scientists, green business leaders and financial experts, communities, schools, hospitals, libraries and public service sectors.

The OGCLab’s mission is to spread the awareness of and to support the implementation of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals in Shenzhen and other large Chinese cities.

The OGCLab’s vision is to effectively mobilize and engage stakeholders in the quest for sustainable urban development and ecological harmony.

The OGCLab’s objectives are to promote the exchange of scientific, technological, economic, financial, social, and political innovations and know-how in the pursuit and implementation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

The OGCLab operates sustainably with a low carbon footprint. It uses recycled materials and office supplies and energy efficient electrical, heating, air conditioning, and communications systems to lessen their environmental impact..

The OGCLab integrates the Internet, proper conference equipment, China’s training and education software and mobile high-definition LED screens to enable unlimited numbers of trainees or observers to participate in various discussions. The programs can be accessed through any PC or smart device with Internet access. This system can promote awareness and professional knowledge to leaders, stakeholders, practitioners, teachers, and learners all over the world.

On January 16, 2019, the IMCC hosted “Change the City — the Forum on the Construction of Shenzhen National Innovation Demonstration Zone for Sustainable Development”, and commissioned GCPS to organize the forum, which utilized the OGCLab’s state-of-the-art high-tech mobile conferencing capabilities to innovate the world’s most efficient conference model with the lowest carbon emission, featuring the interaction between global leaders and local citizens.

The mobile video device collaborated with the conference software system that had served the G20 Hangzhou Summit, and it took only 11 hours for them to be fully ready for the forum. This international seminar was held in a 69-square-meter conference room renovated from an old factory in OCT LOFT, one of China’s best pilot zones in cultural industries. Aiming to reduce the flight carbon footprint, conference space and human resources for a large-scale meeting, the seminar invited Nobel Peace Prize recipient and former IPCC Chair Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri to deliver an 18-minute speech from thousands of miles away through video connection. He encouraged Shenzhen to participate in improving climate change as an important action to implement the UN’s sustainable development agenda. His speech was well received by 29 attendees, including a managing director of HSBC, a partner of Sustainable Development Capital, L.L.P., Chinese entrepreneurs, a Shenzhen hospital president, and an urban public safety expert.

IPCC Vice-Chair Dr. Youba Sokona attended the seminar and interacted with 15,600 citizens online, sharing the details of the UNFCCC COP24 in Katowice, Poland. Sustainability experts, green finance investors and general Shenzhen citizens spent five hours discussing low-carbon travel, non-polluting industry, green finance investments, employment and  technological innovation.

This innovative form of meeting was applauded by various Chinese media, including Xinhuanet and People’s Daily Online, which had a lot of coverage on how the OGCLab used technological innovation to implement the 17 SDGs, revitalize global partnership and prove to the world China’s implementation of President Xi Jinping’s commitment to realize the vision of sustainable development, which he made at the UN Development Summit in 2015.

The report by Xinhuanet:

http://www.xinhuanet.com//money/2019-01/21/c_1210043393.htm

The report by People’s Daily Online:

http://xjr.people.cn/n1/2019/0118/c416168-30576952.html 

The IMCC’s written statement to the 2019 ECOSOC High-Level Segment introduced the innovative solution created by the OGCLab, and the statement was circulated worldwide. It was also translated into French and Spanish versions by the segment’s organizer. The statement can be viewed and downloaded at:

https://undocs.org/en/E/2019/NGO/119

https://undocs.org/fr/E/2019/NGO/119

https://undocs.org/es/E/2019/NGO/119

The innovative solution by the OGCLab was also submitted to the fourth annual Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals (STI Forum) held at the UN Headquarters in New York in May 2019, and the page of the solution is now kept on the relevant website (https://www.globalinnovationexchange.org/innovation/ogclab).