Director General of INBAR Hans Friederich (left) accepts carbon neutral certificate from Li Nuyun, executive vice president of CGCF. Photo: Courtesy of CGCF

The Global Bamboo and Rattan Congress (BARC 2018) captured the world's attention when it announced that it achieved its carbon neutrality goal during its closing ceremony in Beijing on June 27.

Li Nuyun, executive vice president of the China Green Carbon Foundation (CGCF), told attendees that all the carbon emissions released during the three-day congress would be absorbed through the bamboo planting project in Yunnan Province, thus making the event carbon neutral.

The achievement is consistent with the UN's Sustainable Development Goal 13, which urges people to "take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts."

The congress was hosted by the International Bamboo and Rattan Organization (INBAR). According to the body, about 1,970 tons of carbon dioxide emissions were generated by the transportation, catering, accommodations and energy usage during this three-day congress.

Meanwhile, Kunming Suge Landscaping Engineering Co., Ltd. donated 100,000 yuan ($15,117) to the CGCF to support a new bamboo planting project in Yunnan Province. The project will offset all the carbon dioxide emissions in the next 10 years, according to scientific calculations.

As one of the first nationwide nonprofit public funding foundations dedicated to combating climate change in China, the CGCF has established a forestry measure for enterprises, organizations and the public to "store carbon credit, fulfill their social responsibility, increase farmers' incomes and improve the environment."

Since its establishment in 2010, the CGCF has received more than $100 million in donations both at home and abroad and has established over 1.2 million acres  (4.9 billion square meters) of carbon sequestration forest in over 20 provinces in China.