On 5 December 2023, during COP28 in Dubai, the 3rd International Carbon Neutrality Practice Conference was held at the China Pavilion in Expo City Dubai. Held as part of the COP28 series of events, the conference showed the importance that all sectors of Chinese society attach to tackling global climate change and their support for Dubai as host of COP28. Ms. Remoca Shi, WeCarbon Founder and Secretary-General of the Shanghai Climate Week Youth Council, and Mr. Eric Ma, WeCarbon Founder, were invited to attend.
At the conference, WeCarbon Founder Remoca Shi joined Zhao Ai, Executive Vice President of the China Society of Economic Reform and former Director-General of the Department of Regional Opening, National Development and Reform Commission; Song Ronghua, Founder of the Silk Road Cities Alliance and Secretary-General of the China Public Diplomacy Association; Liu Ge, Director of the CGTN Commentary Department; H.E. Khalid Babuly, Special Representative of a member of the Al Qasimi ruling family of Sharjah, and other representatives in launching the "Dubai COP28 Joins Hands with Shanghai Climate Week: Green Run Sets Off Again" campaign.
Figure 1: The "Dubai COP28 Joins Hands with Shanghai Climate Week: Green Run Sets Off Again" event
Figure 2: The launch ceremony
The conference had four parts, keynote speeches, experience sharing, building consensus and green action, and was moderated by CGTN host Wang Guan.
Scholars, entrepreneurs, opinion leaders, civil society organisations and carbon exchange managers from China and abroad held in-depth discussions on international cooperation on carbon neutrality and on building a Green Silk Road. Guests broadly agreed that China's proposal and active promotion of the Green Silk Road is a major contribution to the global response to climate change, and that opportunities for cooperation between China and other countries on sustainability will grow substantially, opening up broad room for green, low-carbon development and the digital economy. Tackling global climate change is a formidable task, but as long as the citizens of the global village hold to green values, keep up their efforts and make active use of advanced science and technology, we will surely create a bright future for ourselves.
Figure 3: Group photo of participants
Since its launch in 2021, the Carbon Neutrality Practice Conference has put strong emphasis on "practice" and "action". This edition, its debut within the COP framework, focused even more on making a substantive contribution to the COP through concrete action. In June this year, the organisers, together with the Consulate-General of China in Dubai, relevant Beijing institutions, the Dalad Banner People's Government in Inner Mongolia, the UAE "Embrace China" Executive Committee and others, launched the "Join Hands with Dubai: Green Run" campaign, calling on people to travel green, cut emissions and build up carbon sinks to help make the Dubai COP carbon neutral.
After six months, the Green Run campaign had gathered more than 300,000 signatures of support and more than 30,000 participants, who covered a combined 200,000 kilometres, equivalent to 22.38 tonnes of CO2 emissions avoided. Mr. Xie Zhenhua, China's Special Envoy for Climate Change, and Zhao Yingmin, head of China's COP28 delegation and Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment, spoke highly of this grassroots green initiative from Chinese civil society. At the conference, the Shanghai Climate Week Youth Council and the Asia-Pacific Entrepreneurs Association (APEA), together with the Green Run organising committee, launched the "Join Hands with Shanghai: Green Run Sets Off Again" campaign to accumulate green carbon for Shanghai Climate Week 2024. The Green Run has been listed as an official project of Shanghai Climate Week.