Cover of Shanghai Voluntary Local Review 2024. [Photo/Guangming Net]
A report that gives insights into Shanghai’s 2024 sustainable development efforts was presented at the recent 2024 Shanghai-Espoo Sustainable Development Forum.
This is an annual event co-hosted by the metropolis and its friendship city of Espoo in Finland since 2022.
The annual report from the Shanghai Voluntary Local Review, compiled by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, elaborated on the city’s efforts to align its urban development with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
It examined Shanghai’s initiatives and progress made in promoting urban sustainable development – while providing a comprehensive evaluation of achievements achieved in the economic, social and environmental sectors, among other areas.
Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs, also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 by its 193 member states as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.
The Chinese government is said to attach great importance to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
In September 2016, China took the lead in issuing its National Plan for Implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
This has provided guiding ideologies, general principles and overall pathways for governments at all levels to implement the agenda based on local realities. In 2020, the United Nations officially launched the Decade of Action for the SDGs, urging countries to implement the sustainable development agenda at a city level.
Shanghai responded proactively by initiating local voluntary assessment work in 2021 and by joining the UN Sustainable Development flagship program.
The 2024 report focused on the overarching theme of “Inclusive, Low-Carbon, Growth” – prioritizing eight goals for the annual review and comprehensively showcasing Shanghai’s latest achievements in advancing sustainable development practices.
Source: thepaper.cn
,https://english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-Latest-WhatsNew/20241212/b1b710d3bcc24e7489a9f56b2971b275.html