Zhou Xun

Zhou Xun, one of China’s most popular actresses, spends much of her time promoting ‘tips for green living’ through “Our Part”, a campaign she runs jointly with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The actress encourages people to reduce their carbon footprint through simple changes in lifestyle, something that can make a huge difference in a country the size of China.

On April 21, 2008, she was appointed as the first National Goodwill Ambassador of UNDP China, with a focus on environmental sustainability. As climate change has become one of the defining issues of our time, Ms. Zhou uses her prominent public profile to help UNDP raise public awareness on the subject, and advocates for simple, effective lifestyle changes to reduce our carbon footprint and live a sustainable life. During her time as a Goodwill Ambassador, Zhou Xun has lent herself to various campaigns to promote public transport, carbon offsetting schemes and awareness of food waste on World Environment Day.

She works on reducing her own carbon footprint and follows her tips in her own day-to-day life. She takes her own chopsticks, mugs and shopping bags with her wherever she goes and tries to convince others to use reusable products. She plants three trees for every 200 km of her car travel and is planting many more to offset the carbon footprint of her air travel. She bikes or walks to her destinations whenever she can. 

In 2013, she collaborated with UNDP China to release “2032 - The Future We Want”, a short, powerful film sharing Chinese people’s hopes and dreams for the future. The video was intended to remind people of the power of a positive vision for the future ahead of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in June 2013.