On 28 April 2026, the Shanghai Climate Week side event "Youth Cross-sector Action and the Climate Ecosystem", hosted by the World Economic Forum's Global Shapers Shanghai I Hub, took place at PAC, Keppel Jing'an Centre in Shanghai. Centred on the theme of "Youth Cross-sector Action and the Climate Ecosystem", the side event offered an open, inclusive and diverse platform for cross-sector dialogue. It brought together practitioners and thinkers from culture and the arts, purpose-driven businesses, outdoor sports and civic action to discuss the many dimensions of climate and ecological issues and innovative solutions, fostering a more inclusive and action-oriented climate action ecosystem. WeCarbon Founder Ms. Remoca Shi was invited to attend and join the panel discussion.
In the session "How Culture and the Arts Can Drive Climate Action", Ms. Shi spoke on "Making Climate Visible: How Images Inspire Action". Drawing on her own experience, she discussed how images, as a form of expression that crosses languages and cultures, can turn abstract climate issues into tangible public experiences and motivate people to take part in climate action.
As a case in point, Ms. Shi presented the progress and outreach results of the Climate & Sustainability Photography Awards, for which she serves as Project Lead and Curator. Since its launch in 2024, the Awards have been guided by the aim of "conveying the beauty of ecological civilisation through authentic images". Each year they invite photographers among young people worldwide to submit work, set up categories around three to four UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), select representative works through professional judging, and tour exhibitions at Shanghai Climate Week and in many other places around the world, steadily widening the ways the public can engage with climate issues.
To date, the shortlisted and award-winning works of the 2025 Awards have been exhibited in Shanghai, Beijing, Abu Dhabi and other cities, and the 2026 edition of the competition and exhibitions will soon be launched. The works have been used as chapter illustrations in the flagship report ClimateTech In Focus, produced with United Nations and APEC-related institutions, and as visual backdrops at a number of major forums, extending the project's reach and building a climate communication network for young people around the world.
Photo: The Shanghai Climate Week Youth Action Forum
Going forward, WeCarbon will continue to use the Climate & Sustainability Photography Awards as a key vehicle for deepening cross-sector collaboration with cultural institutions, businesses and young changemakers, exploring new ways to communicate climate and ecological issues and raising public attention to and participation in climate action.