February 13, 2024

Partners, friends and colleagues worldwide on the road to sustainable development,

The Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival, of 2024 has extraordinary significance. Not long ago, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution to list the Spring Festival as a UN floating holiday, highlighting the global influence of Chinese culture and promoting exchanges and mutual learning among different civilizations. This resolution has not only granted the Spring Festival a “legal” status in the United Nations, but has also made the globalization trend of the Spring Festival more consistent with its reputation. Major cities around the world, such as London, New York, Paris, Sydney, Dubai, Rome, Moscow, and Singapore, have held various cultural activities to celebrate the Chinese New Year, allowing people to feel the charm of the Spring Festival and the uniqueness of traditional culture in a joyful atmosphere, and making each country’s national culture more diversified during the integration with Chinese culture.

Today is the fourth day of the Chinese New Year. According to the custom of the Chinese lunar calendar, the third day of the first lunar month is to send off the New Year, and the fourth day is the beginning of the year. It coincides with the fourth anniversary of the death of Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, former chairman of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and chairman of the Open Green City Laboratory (OGCLab) of the International Mayors Communication Centre (IMCC). For this reason, this Chinese New Year’s speech is also a tribute to and recall of Dr. Pachauri.

The IMCC was founded in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China in August 2005. Its purpose is “to convey cultures, promote the sustainable development of the city” and its mission is “to be a disseminator of world urban culture.” By promoting exchanges and cooperation between cities in various countries, we can achieve cultural mutual learning and understanding between different cities, thereby promoting the sustainable development and prosperity of cities around the world. Through the joint efforts of the board members of the “Global Mayors’ Forum” (GMF) under the IMCC, the IMCC was granted “special consultative status” by the United Nations on July 25, 2017, which was an important milestone in the development of the “Global Mayors’ Forum” under the IMCC.

On November 28, 2017, the IMCC established the world’s first “Open Green City Laboratory” in Shenzhen, which was reported in detail by China’s state-level media, such as People’s Daily Online, Xinhua News Agency, Guangming.com, and Global.com, as well as 46 famous media.

The Open Green City Laboratory is established in Shenzhen.

From January 15 to 16, 2019, The “Forum on the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Shenzhen, China)” was successfully held. The IMCC was commissioned by the Science, Technology Innovation Commission of Shenzhen Municipality as a supporter of the forum, in parallel with the United Nations Development Programme, and undertook the invitation of international guests for the forum, including Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, former chairman of the IPCC, and Dr. Youba Sokona, vice chair of the IPCC. Thirteen well-known international leaders in various fields, United Nations officials, university professors and multinational entrepreneurs flew from all over the world to Shenzhen, China to participate in the forum.

Dr. Youba Sokona, vice chair of the IPCC, delivers a speech at the Forum on the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Shenzhen, China).

IMCC Executive Director Jin Lan gives a speech at the Forum on the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Shenzhen, China).

On January 16, 2019, the IMCC independently hosted the “Forum on the Construction of Shenzhen National Innovation Demonstration Zone for Sustainable Development,” which combined online and offline activities, pioneering a new model of interaction between remote video conferencing and offline participants, and between United Nations officials, participants and online citizens.

The five-hour meeting attracted 17,200 online participants. Dr. Pachauri, who was seriously ill, gave an 18-minute speech at a New Delhi hospital using a remote video device. It was an inspiring speech to the participants and Shenzhen citizens who attended the meeting online. He said, “Shenzhen will become a model city that leads the world in sustainable development.”

Dr. Pachauri, just as you hoped, today’s Shenzhen has become a pioneer in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs) among cities in China and the world. Especially in implementing the first goal of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, “no poverty,” Shenzhen has played an exemplary role for China and the world.

On January 25, 2019, Dr. Pachauri accepted the invitation from Jin Lan, executive director of the IMCC, to serve as chairman of the “Open Green City Laboratory” of the IMCC.

On March 6, 2022, the IMCC established the “Open Green City and Countryside (Zhenglan Banner) Laboratory” in Zhenglan Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, aiming to promote characteristic industries in the ethnic minority area, namely the traditional Chinese medicine R&D and production using the globe flower to prevent various epidemics, as well as the tourism industry.

On May 6, 2022, authorized by the United Nations, the IMCC hosted the parallel forum of “Quality Education” in Shenzhen for the seventh Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals (STI Forum).

In terms of implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, starting from October 2018, the IMCC has been working with tea growers in Yingde City, Guangdong Province, where Chinese black tea is produced, to discuss the role of Chinese black tea in revitalizing rural areas, ending poverty, and popularizing education, and has been promoting the research and development process of zero-carbon and green fast-moving consumer goods. Through unremitting efforts and repeated inspections and investigations, the IMCC continues to experiment with fast-moving consumer goods made of tea, seeking tea drinks that combine organic, environmentally friendly tea and fully degradable packaging materials that are comply with EU food certification.

In 2019, in a bid to better understand the status of the international community in terms of sustainable development, Dr. Pachauri sincerely invited Yi Zhenhua, chairman of Guangdong Enjoy Manor Green Industry Development Co. Ltd., to represent Guangdong, China at the second World Sustainable Development Summit to be held in Durango, Mexico from March 5 to 7, 2020. However, Yi was unable to make the trip as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.

In January 2024, a biodegradable and environmentally friendly “cup tea” was finally launched. It is jointly produced by the Tea Research Institute of the Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangdong Enjoy Manor Green Industry Development Co. Ltd., and the Open Green City Laboratory (OGCLab, which is supported by the council of the Global Mayors’ Forum under the IMCC). The tea’s intellectual property rights are 100% owned by the IMCC. This product will promote the green and low-carbon development process of fast-moving consumer goods in China and around the world.

Spring is here. Located between 22°27’ and 22°52’ north latitude, Shenzhen sees no snow but old leaves falling off and new leaves turning green.

We have bid farewell to 2023, a year of wars and frequent natural disasters. On the occasion of the spring of 2024, we wish people all over the world to enjoy the sunshine, work together to eliminate war, promote peace, end poverty, and promote the sustainable development and prosperity of cities around the world.

On this bright spring day, the IMCC will inherit Dr. Pachauri’s great vision, strive to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs), let the spring breeze make the world green, and let the fragrance of China’s environmentally friendly cup tea spread around the world! I wish that urban and rural areas around the world can integrate their cultures and seek sustainable development together!