On the morning of 14th May 2019, Mattis Raustol, Chargé d'affaires & Minister-Counsellor of Royal Norwegian Embassy in China; Marte Torskenæs, Counselor of Royal Norwegian Embassy in China; and Trym Sonstad, Second Secretary of Royal Norwegian Embassy in China visited Institute for Sustainable Development Goals, Tsinghua University (Tsinghua SDG Institutute). Wu Hongbo, former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Co-Director of Tsinghua SDG Institutute, and Zhu Xufeng, Associate Dean of School of Public Policy & Management, Tsinghua University and Executive Director of Tsinghua SDG Institutute, jointly attended this meeting. The two sides exchanged views on further strengthening inter-agency cooperation.

Wu Hongbo (left) and Mattis Raustol (right)

During the meeting, Mattis Rostow mentioned that citizens' awareness of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda) and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is an important cornerstone for advancing global sustainable development. He briefly introduced the Norwegian country's efforts to actively promote public awareness of the SDGs through a diverse range of publicity activities to make people more aware of the specifics of the SDGs. In addition, Mr Rostow highly praised China's unremitting efforts in promoting SDG and looked forward to future cooperation between Norway and China in implementing SDG jointly.

Wu Hongbo talked about China's high degree of integration of the 2030 Agenda and the 13th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of China in the implementation of SDG, which fully demonstrates China's ambition and responsibility to promote the 2030 Agenda. He also shared China's experience in the implementation of the SDGs, in particular, China's poverty alleviation work in recent years has achieved remarkable outcomes. The result is indispensable to the strong national leadership, the responsibility of local officials, the national policy and measures of poverty alleviation. Also, in the area of climate action, the public's awareness of atmospheric environmental protection has also been significantly improved. Finally, he introduced that the first batch of cities in China's Sustainable Development Innovation Demonstration Zones contain 3 cities - Shenzhen, Taiyuan and Guilin-, with more cities to join such as Chengde, Chenzhou and Lincang.

Zhu Xufeng then introduced Tsinghua SDG Institutute's research projects and activities in promoting global sustainable development. He also shared his insights on the pilot cities of the Innovation Demonstration Zones , the role of Chinese companies in promoting SDGs, and how Chinese cities can promote the implementation of sustainable development.

On the occasion of Tsinghua SDG Institutute's second anniversary, the Royal Norwegian Embassy in China and the Institute are looking forward to future cooperation and exchanges in related fields of SDGs.

group photo