Beijing, 12 September 2024
On September 12, the Delegation of the European Union to China held the opening ceremony of the “Sustainability Tour 2024”, a social media campaign organized with the participation of the EU Member States’ diplomatic missions in China and the European Investment Bank. This event was hosted by Mr Mattias Lentz, Deputy Head of Delegation of the European Union to China and attended by representatives of the EU Delegation, EU Member States and several EU-China cooperation projects, as well as media partners.
Following a first edition in 2021, the EU Delegation brings back the Sustainability Tour, inviting the Chinese public on a virtual trip across China to learn about cooperation between the European Union and China. Through a series of vlogs, this social media campaign will showcase a diverse set of projects promoted by the European Union, the European Investment Bank and the EU Member States in China in the fields of environment protection, climate change, green transition and sustainability.
The EU Delegation invited a group of Chinese vloggers to ride bicycles to visit 21 projects or activities in 14 locations of 12 provinces and municipalities across China. These projects provide examples of collaboration between policy actors, companies, schools and other entities that have a positive impact on the sustainability of people’s lives and their future.
At this opening event, Mr Mattias Lentz, Deputy Head of Delegation thanked the support of the EU Member States, the European Investment Bank, the French Development Agency, European and Chinese partners throughout the campaign. He noted that the Sustainability Tour affirms that global green transition remains at the core of EU-China relations.
In the run-up to major international climate and environment negotiations taking place in the coming weeks, we should step up our actions and accelerate a global, just and inclusive green transition. The EU has been also continuously increasing support and remains committed to support partner countries towards a green transition. Nowadays, the EU and its 27 Member States are the biggest providers of public climate finance in the world. (Follow the link to read the full speech:
Ms Patricia Conceicao, Head of Press & Information of the EU Delegation to China, set the expectations on the Sustainability Tour 2024 and introduced the format of the campaign. She highlighted that the focus of this campaign is cooperation. The EU Delegation invited 4 vloggers to visit 21 projects and activities located in 14 sites of 12 cities and municipalities of China, namely in the fields of plastic reduction, sustainable forestry, sustainable agriculture, sustainable architecture, clean energy, low-carbon manufacture, among other.
Chinese vloggers Xiaoyu and Sunfengren also participated at the opening ceremony and shared their enthusiasm about cycling and sustainability. For vlogger Sunfengren, participating in the Sustainability Tour was a great opportunity to discover projects in which cooperation between the EU and China was very fruitful. For vlogger Xiaoyu, the main takeaway of this campaign was a better understanding of the importance of small daily practices in people’s lives and youth participation towards a greener future.
The “Sustainability Tour 2024” will run from 13 September to 30 November on accounts of the EU Delegation, Keys to Europe, and invited Chinese vloggers on social media platforms, including Weibo, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu. The opening ceremony of the Sustainability Tour 2024 was broadcasted live on Weibo with the vlogger Xiaoyu. A recording will be available on Weibo account of the EU Delegation @euinchina and Keys to Europe @解码欧洲KeystoEurope and on the website of the EU Delegation.
About the “Sustainability Tour 环保好骑心” online campaign
The “Sustainability Tour 环保好骑心” is an online campaign promoted by the Delegation of the European Union to China to showcase ongoing cooperation between the EU and its Member States in environment, climate, energy and other sustainability-related fields, as well as to promote environment-friendly life styles.
The second edition of this campaign, taking place between 13 September and 30 November 2024, has been launched in the context of the EU’s Green Diplomacy Weeks running worldwide from September to November 2024. The EU will maintain its dialogues with China in the run up to the UN Convention on Biodiversity (UNCBD) COP16 will take place in October, the UN Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP29 and the negotiations on a new legally binding instrument on plastic pollution (INC-5) in November, and the UN Convention on Desertification (UNCCD) COP16 in December. In September, a Pact for the Future, that will address sustainable development and financing for development among other, will be discussed at the 79th session of the UN General Assembly. On the occasion of such relevant United Nations Conferences, this EU Delegation campaign will contribute to the people-to-people exchanges between the EU and China on the field of green transition, an important and very active pillar of bilateral relations.
Source – Press and information team of the Delegation to CHINA