A special event on “Boosting South-South Cooperation through Philanthropy” was held today at UN Headquarters. The event was co-hosted by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) and Beijing Qiaonyu Foundation, with support from the United Nations Southern Climate Partnership Incubator (SCPI), the China Global Philanthropic Institute (CGPI), and the East-West Charitable Forum.
During the event, UNOSSC and the Qiaonyu Foundation formalized an agreement to work together for climate action. Under this agreement, the Qiaonyu Foundation will provide 1.5 million USD to support South-South cooperation in climate change, through the SCPI initiative. This is part of a 15 million USD climate change fund that Madam He announced during Marrakech COP22 in November 2016, the first private fund established specifically to address climate change since the enter-into-force of the Paris Agreement.
Attendees including representatives from the High Level Committee on South-South Cooperation, the G77, UN Member States including China, UN entities, and the global philanthropic community.
The Envoy of the Secretary-General on South-South Cooperation and Director of UNOSSC, Mr. Jorge Chediek, moderated this event. In his remarks, he explored the changing global development landscape and noted that in recent years, global philanthropy has become well recognized for its contribution to sustainable development. “With the growth of the global South has come a rise in the number of Southern philanthropists” Mr. Chediek said, addressing the room. “Increasingly, leaders from the private sector are embracing philanthropy, leading to new momentum for our common vision of sustainable development”.
In her address entitled “We Don’t Want to Leave the Earth”, Madam He, chairperson of the Qiaonyu Foundation, stressed: “If we don’t care about climate change, the human race might have to leave our Earth.” She said: “I was much honored to have planted the seeds to support South-South cooperation on climate change in Marrakech, jointly with the United Nations. Today, we initiated this joint effort and the seed has taken root, here at the UN Headquarters.”
Madam He shared the actions of the Orient Landscape & Ecology and the Beijing Qiaonyu Foundation in areas including eco-conservation, new energy development, community adaptation, and human resource training. “With innovative approach, our business will take climate actions in four areas, including 45 billion USD Public-Private-Partnership projects in ecosystem restoration; a plan to implement 100 eco-tourism projects; and to establish a capacity of treating 10 million tons of hazardous waste” she explained. “Meanwhile, our philanthropic ambition includes a total of 80 natural reserves. All these actions highlight our efforts on ecological restoration, poverty reduction and environmental health.”
Madam He stressed “I emphasize a lot on human resource development in developing countries, and Qiaonyu Foundation is supporting CGPI (China Global Philanthropy Institute) to develop systematic courses on environmental protection and climate change. We also supported Peking University to establish the Mulan College, launched earlier this month, aimed at capacity building for women entrepreneurship from the global South”.
Mr. Chediek noted that climate change is a defining challenge of our time, and one that will disproportionately impact countries of the South. He emphasised that “South-South cooperation is one important way through which Southern countries can adapt and mitigate to a changing climate. South-South cooperation in climate change is increasingly gaining traction and support”.
Mr. Chediek thanked Madame He for her “kind and generous support” which he said would allow the SCPI to grow and expand upon existing good work. He said he believed that the collaboration between UNOSSC and the Qiaonyu Foundation “will help to expand and deepen the work of the United Nations in [climate change]”.
The Permanent Representative of Uganda to the United Nations, Ambassador Adonia Ayebare, spoke in his capacity as the President of the 19th session of High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation. He emphasized the critical role of South-South cooperation in implementing the 2030 Agenda, and called for greater support from all stakeholders including the UN, civil society and the private sector to unleash its full potential. He also congratulated the Foundation for their leadership in this area.
The Deputy Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the United Nations, Ambassador Helena Yañez, spoke as chair of G77. In her statement, she reiterated the importance of multi-sectoral partnerships, including the private sector and private philanthropists, for achieving sustainable development.
Senior representatives from a number of global charities and civil society organizations witnessed the signing ceremony and participated in a roundtable discussion. These include China Green Carbon Foundation, China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation, China Merchants New Energy Group, China Social Entrepreneur Foundation, Vanke Group, the East-West Philanthropy Forum, as well as Oxfam. Panelists shared their experience on climate action, sustainable development and South-South cooperation, and they explored the strategy and roadmap of philanthropic joint actions to support South-South cooperation.
In his concluding remarks, Mr. Chediek noted that Southern governments are increasingly becoming a source of support for South-South cooperation. He made specific mention of China’s One Belt One Road development strategy, and the Belt and Road Forum which was held last week in Beijing. During the Forum, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged additional 1 billion USD to replenish the China South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund, and to support the implementation of the 100 Happy Homes Project, 100 Anti-Poverty Projects, 100 Healthy Recovery Projects, and other projects in relevant countries.
