Yantai City Launches International Zero-Carbon Island Cooperation Initiative

YANTAI, China, Nov. 15, 2024 /Xinhua-AsiaNet/–

At the Launch Conference of International Zero-Carbon Island Cooperation Initiative held during the UNFCCC COP29 on Nov. 13, Yantai City, Shandong Province released the International Zero-Carbon Island Cooperation Initiative together with 32 island cities, international organizations, research institutions, enterprises, and other founding entities at home and abroad. This initiative aims to promote global climate governance through joint efforts.

The Launch Conference of International Zero-Carbon Island Cooperation Initiative

Over 50,000 islands worldwide are facing shared challenges due to climate change, highlighting the urgent need for an international organization that focuses on the sustainable development of islands. Zheng Deyan, vice secretary of the CPC Yantai Municipal Committee and mayor of Yantai City, called on global island stakeholders to unite in international zero-carbon island cooperation, contributing to both sustainable island development and global climate campaigns.

Yantai’s unique features displayed at COP29

The International Zero-Carbon Island Cooperation Organization, as the world’s first international organization dedicated to zero-carbon islands, aims to enhance the climate resilience of islands, strengthen infrastructure and disaster response capabilities, and promote mutual assistance in the sharing of emergency relief supplies; explore zero-carbon pathways, build clean energy systems, promote green buildings, green transportation, and green communities, and foster the development of low-carbon industries such as modern marine fisheries, modern agriculture, and low-carbon tourism; protect ecological resources, strengthen the protection, development, utilization, research, and management of island resources, and enhance academic and cultural exchange among islands.

Build the International Zero-Carbon Island in Yantai’s Changdao

The Launch Conference of International Zero-Carbon Island Cooperation Initiative was hosted by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the Shandong Provincial People’s Government, and co-organized by the Shandong Provincial Foreign Affairs Office, Shandong Provincial Department of Ecological Environment, and the Yantai Municipal People’s Government. At the conference, representatives from China, island nations, and international organizations delivered speeches and expressed their support for the initiative.