Cat Ba, Hai Phong, Vietnam, 4 December 2022 – More than five hundred people joined the “Plastic Action Day 2022” in Cat Ba Archipelago Biosphere Reserve to raise awareness and call for actions to reduce marine litter and protect the environment. These participants were from UNESCO Vietnam, Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO (NATCOM), the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), the Vietnam National Committee on the Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB), Vietnam MAB youth, representatives from Hai Phong city, Cat Hai district and Cat Ba Archipelago Biosphere Reserve, local communities, youth, students and media. This event was a part of “Youth and Innovation for Ocean Initiative”, co-organized by UNESCO Viet Nam and Cat Ba Archipelago Biosphere Reserve, with support from The Coca-Cola Foundation.

UNESCO’s Thematic Indicators for Culture in the 2030 Agenda (Culture|2030 Indicators) launched in 2019 provides a new framework to measure and monitor the progress of culture’s contribution to the national and local implementation of the Goals and Targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, both as a sector of activity itself and transversally across other sectors.   As the first County- and World Heritage site-level pilot in China, in 2021 UNESCO Beijing Office launched the monitoring exercise of the Culture|2030 Indicators at Shilin of South China Karst Natural World Heritage site in Yunnan Province. While the stone forests of Shilin are considered superlative natural phenomena and a world reference, Shilin is also home to Yi (Sani) ethnic people with rich cultural heritage.     Based on the survey conducted by the expert team with the sample of 1885 local residents and tourists of diverse background (54.5% women), and the secondary data collected from governmental and academic sources, the Shilin Pilot Report of the Thematic Indicators for Culture in the 2030 Agenda (available in Chinese) highlighted a positive position within the county landscape. The cultural and creative industries (CCIs) account for 8.1% of local GDP, far higher than the 2020 national average of 4.43%.  The momentum and synergy of culture are also demonstrated in policy implementation, industry development, social inclusion, environmental protection, and education for all.     Please click the links below to read more. English version: https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/web-eng.pdf