The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and ofo, a Beijing-based start-up company that has become the world’s first and largest bike sharing platform, are joining forces to raise public awareness about climate change.
L-R: Mr. Li Zekun, Vice President of Marketing, and Mr. Dai Wei, Founder and CEO, with ofo’s bright yellow bikes outside UN Headquarters.
The partnership will also provide financial support to innovative projects that address urban environmental challenges, expected to reach 100 million people, including school children, with campaign messages about the adverse effects of climate change and ways all of us can reduce CO2 emissions.UNDP and ofo will also establish a joint scholarship programme to support environmental research projects and will provide small grants to start-ups offering green products and technologies.
ofo, which currently has over 30 million people using its app to share bicycles in China, Singapore and the US, will donate its income on the 17th of each month to celebrate the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs – also known as the Global Goals – are an ambitious blueprint agreed upon by nearly 200 nations to eradicate poverty and inequality by 2030.
UNDP, which is the world’s largest development organisation, will advise ofo on an innovative initiative which will see ofo redistributing abandoned bikes to rural areas to improve access to education for children living in poverty.
“Both UNDP and ofo are innovators when it comes to finding ways of reducing the emissions related to the burning of fossil fuels, and this is an innovative partnership which will make real strides towards protecting our precious environment,” said Michael O’Neill, UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Director of External Relations.
“We are very proud to be partnering with UNDP as we both work together towards achieving one of the key goals agreed by the world in 2015: the goal of a clean, sustainable safe environment and planet for all of us,” said Chief Executive Officer of ofo, Dai Wei.