LocationsOpening Remarks by Ms Beate Trankmann at the Re:Think 2025 Innovation Week – Harnessing Creativity for a Sustainable Future
July 8, 2025
UNDP Resident Representative in China, Beate Trankmann, delivered opening remarks at the Re:Think 2025 Innovation Week – Harnessing Creativity for a Sustainable Future in Chengdu, China.
尊敬的袁兰兰副主任、
游晋副局长、
李抒音副主任、
李熙燮秘书长、
朱澍代表，
还有我的同事 Carlos Aldeco , 女士们、先生们、朋友们、还有所有在场和在线的观众们
大家上午好！
都说成都是一个“来了就不想离开”的城市，你们看，这是我连续第六年来成都参加Re:Think了！看到这么多老朋友，有一种回家的感觉。
With the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – our global blueprint for a brighter future – fast approaching, the challenges our world is facing are only intensifying. From the climate crisis and biodiversity loss to growing inequalities, more than one-third of the SDG targets are either stalled or regressing.
We urgently need new ways of thinking and new approaches to advance development progress.
That is precisely what Re:Think has always been about. For the last 5 years, Re:Think has been a platform for stakeholders from around the world to explore bold ideas, co-create innovative solutions to tackle pressing global issues, and forge new partnerships to accelerate sustainable development.
This year, we focus on a new theme: Harnessing Creativity for a Sustainable Future.
From artists, designers, and filmmakers, to musicians, architects, and storytellers — creative and cultural expression can play a critical role in helping to shape values, shift mindsets and change behaviours in ways that data, statistics and policy documents alone often cannot.
Beyond that, creative industries are also vital contributors to building more resilient and prosperous economies by advancing low carbon solutions, promoting social cohesion, and boosting innovation, particularly among disadvantaged communities.
Indeed, creative industries generate over US$2 trillion annually, providing critical revenue for small businesses, and accounting for nearly 50 million jobs globally. A large portion of these jobs are held by women and youth, acting as vital entry points into the labor market, and catalysts for gender equality.
"Re:Think 2025 is about unlocking the potential of the creative community to help deliver the SDGs — as co-designers of the solutions we need."
As one of the fastest growing sectors, the creative economy is projected to account for up to 10 percent of global GDP before 2030.
Recognizing the transformative potential of creative industries as drivers of inclusion, sustainability, community resilience and guardians of cultural heritage, at UNDP we have long worked together with partners here in China to not simply preserve culture and harness creativity, but to actually facilitate their integration into development planning and advocacy efforts at the local level.
From providing training to rural communities in Guizhou and Yunnan in handicraft and embroidery skills, to collaborating with local designers here in Chengdu on a sustainable fashion show during last year’s Re:Think event, creativity has always been a central part of our efforts to advance development progress.
And that’s why we’re here today.
Re:Think 2025 is about unlocking the potential of the creative community to help deliver the SDGs — as co-designers of the solutions we need.
This year’s programme brings together UN agencies, cultural institutions, sustainability experts and city leaders to explore how the creative industries can accelerate change across areas such as climate action, circular economy, inclusive urban development, and green lifestyles.
And there is no better place for this type of gathering to take place than the city of Chengdu. As a city with a vibrant cultural heritage, blending tradition with forward-thinking development, it offers the perfect setting to explore how art, innovation, and sustainability can come together to drive change, exemplifying precisely the spirit of creativity we need to achieve the SDGs. With that, let me thank our co-hosts, the Chengdu Hi-Tech District Government and China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchanges (CICETE), and express my appreciation to all the creative voices joining us this year.
You are the imagination behind tomorrow’s solutions. Your vision, your work, and your ability to think outside the box, are critical to transforming the world. Together let us leverage our collective creative potential, to reimagine and indeed “rethink”, how we can realize a more sustainable, green, and inclusive future for everyone, everywhere.
Thank you.
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