Officials and experts from China and abroad have gathered in Beijing for the Green Sustainable Development Conference. The conference is co-hosted by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and China Urban-townization Promotion Council, in association with the Nordic Council of Ministers. The meeting will discuss the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the facilitation of China's green urbanization.

The theme of the conference is "Sustainable Development and Global Cooperation on Green Urbanization."

At the opening ceremony, officials and experts pointed out that with the scientific and technological revolution, green and sustainable development is the golden key to opening a new round of globalization. 

They also said China's green urbanization and ecological civilization have made great contributions to accelerating sustainable development for the international community.

Attendees affirmed the importance of the conference in building global consensus and jointly tackling challenges. They agreed that environmental problems should not be addressed in an isolated way where different industries may have different solutions, but need to be handled in a comprehensive manner, emphasizing collaboration among a variety of entities, including countries, people and companies.

Laurent Fabius, former French prime minister and chairman of the French Constitutional Council,  summarized the spirit of the Paris Agreement adopted during his presidency of the United Nations Climate Change Conference as the keywords of "better, faster and together," with "together" as the most important. 

"One country cannot act by itself and the international community has to be pushed by leaders," Fabius said. "China and Europe have been cooperating with others and I believe there will be new improvement and it will be decisive. Because the question is very practical, air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution, is it possible for our children to live in a good condition of life? And it depends on our decisions, internationally, nationally and locally."  

Dr. Douglas Noble, deputy representative of UNICEF's China office said, "Ensuring a sustainable and safe environment for children is critical to the work UNICEF has been doing in China. It's a great year to focus on green and sustainable development for children in China, and to improve sanitation for all children in China, even in the most rural areas."

During the opening ceremony, the China Green Sustainable Development Association signed strategic cooperation framework agreements with local governments, state-owned enterprises, energy and environmental protection enterprises and leading educational enterprises in fields of sustainable development in Finland in areas of green urban planning, international cooperation in energy and environmental protection, pilot projects of international cooperation in green sustainable development and education for sustainable development.

Moreover, the launching ceremony of the Future Reflection Plan was also held during the conference, which brought together influential think tanks, enterprises, financial institutions and social organizations from all over the world to jointly practice the value of green sustainable development in the form of public welfare and charity, and draw attention from all walks of society to deal with the challenges faced by children and adolescents and encourage and guide children and adolescents from around the world to involve themselves in green sustainable development.