SUPER PROJECT
2024 S+ Flagship Programs
Low-Carbon Olympics, Embracing the Poles — Olympics Meets Polars
In this 2024 Olympic year, when Olympic champions meet the poles, brilliant sparks will fly
With the support of Yu Zaiqing, First Vice-President of the International Olympic Committee, and Song Luzeng, Vice-President of the Olympic Council of Asia, Polar Hub plans to lead Olympic champions to the Arctic and Antarctic for an extraordinary polar science expedition
30 Olympic officials, a star team of Olympic champions, leading scientific explorers, artists, and other members of society will join voices for climate action and glacier conservation
Time: June–July 2024
Route: Paris, France – Greenland – the Arctic Ocean – Paris
Partners: Olympic Council of Asia; Beijing Olympic Culture Promotion Association
Communications Plan
- The Olympics at World’s End — short exploration documentary series (6 episodes × 15 min), streamed nationwide during the Games
- Global release of the Paris Olympics promotional film
- In-depth coverage by CCTV and other official media
Return to Antarctica: A Shared Future for Humankind | Antarctica Solo
The ultimate challenge: 100 days, 2,200 km, a solo crossing of Antarctica
Chinese scientific explorer Wen Xu will attempt a solo crossing of Antarctica and challenge the Guinness World Record again, igniting the spirit of China worldwide through the perspectives of exploration, climate action, and Chinese youth.
Time: October 2024 – February 2025
Location: the Antarctic continent
Communications Plan
- Global media moments: live polar link-ups with world leaders at the UN Climate Change Conference
- A world-class expedition documentary: an ordinary Chinese person’s extraordinary journey, driven by a vision of peace, exploration, and a sustainable future
Special Project
Special Programs
Glaciers+ Women’s Expeditions
Laigu Glacier + Yarlung Tsangpo river-themed rafting expedition
An international expedition team of eight women from different countries, supported by UNESCO and UNDP, will explore China’s glaciers and rivers. Through the eyes of women explorers, it highlights human civilization within the water cycle and raises public awareness of glacier and water crises, while standing as a model of women breaking their own limits to take part in ecological conservation.
Time: March–May 2024
Partners: United Nations Development Programme; China Women’s Development Foundation
Communications: lecture tour + promotional film + short videos
Fundraising target: RMB 1.5–2 million
Glaciers+ Youth Scientific Exploration
The COP15 Youth Biodiversity Scientific Exploration program, guided by the Publicity and Education Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and co-hosted by the Center for Environmental Education and Communication and the Tianjin Center for Excellence in Climate Change Response, supports the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity and builds a flagship program for youth participation in biodiversity conservation.
COP16: Hainan tropical rainforest gibbon conservation and Phase II coral-reef restoration at Wuzhizhou Island
COP16: joint research on climate change and biodiversity at the glaciers of Yulong Snow Mountain
Time: March 2024
Partners: Center for Environmental Education and Communication (MEE); Hainan Department of Ecology and Environment; Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, CAS
Fundraising target: RMB 500,000–700,000
Glaciers+ Biodiversity
‘Light and Biodiversity’ solutions
Research on how light affects biodiversity is still emerging in China. Polar Hub will continue to explore the light agenda — both an extension of a fundamental scientific question and another attempt to solve problems through collaboration between companies and public-interest organizations, between business models and philanthropic models.
Building on the 2023 Baima Snow Mountain light project, Polar Hub will work with ornithologists to reduce the impact of light on bird migration and extend the solutions to society at large.
Time: throughout 2024 Yunnan
Communications: promotional videos
Fundraising target: RMB 700,000–1 million
Glaciers+ National Parks
Guarding Asia’s Water Tower: Amne Machin + Sanjiangyuan National Park
National park development is a focal point for public participation in climate action and biodiversity conservation. Drawing on the international experience of glacier national parks, Polar Hub will monitor and protect the headwaters of the mother rivers, and help local communities transform ecological assets into sustainable ecotourism.
Time: April 2024, around Earth Day
Partners:Sanjiangyuan National Park Administration; Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, CAS
Communications: promotional videos
Fundraising target: RMB 500,000–700,000
SCIENTIFIC EXPLORATION
Scientific Expedition Programs
Glacier Memory
Over the past two years, the Glacier Memory program has successfully drilled ice cores at Qiangtang Glacier No. 2 and the Puruogangri ice field in Tibet, rescuing 800+ meters of ice-core samples
The most hardcore science — an extreme test that matters to humanity’s future
Guliya ice-core drilling, Tibet: China’s oldest ice core
April–June 2024
Scientific team:
Academician Sun Youhong’s team, China University of Geosciences (Beijing)
Prof. Tian Lide’s team, Yunnan University (Institute of International Rivers and Eco-security)
China Association for Scientific Expedition
Overseas plan: Summit, the highest point of Greenland
April–June or July–September 2024
In search of the world’s oldest ice core (international collaboration)
Communications Plan
Documentary + short videos
Fundraising target: RMB 1.5–2.5 million
A single Tibet expedition with ice-core collection requires about RMB 1.5 million in equipment, instruments, and personnel; two partner seats are open to companies and foundations to co-fund the work
The Greenland fundraising target is RMB 2.5 million for personnel, travel, international logistics, and equipment; two partner seats are open to companies and foundations
CITIZEN SCIENCE
Citizen Science Programs
Glacier Field Visits
This global glacier-visiting initiative was jointly launched by the Center for Environmental Education and Communication (MEE) and the Tianjin Center for Excellence in Climate Change Response (Polar Hub), and was officially announced at COP28, with renowned actress Liu Tao as Goodwill Ambassador.
‘7+2’ global glacier journey across seven continents and both poles
Governments, research institutes, companies, and public-interest organizations will be invited to jointly visit representative glaciers across all seven continents and both poles — understanding the reality of climate change from new angles and actively exploring solutions. The program will broaden the government–business–public collaboration platform around glacier issues, contribute to China’s dual-carbon goals, strengthen international glacier-conservation cooperation, and give new meaning to a community with a shared future for humanity.
Communications: event coverage + documentary series + short videos
Fundraising target: depends on the glaciers visited
Glacier Watch
Glacier Watch is China’s first sustained public-interest science program focused on glacier retreat, aiming to build a civil, digital glacier-monitoring application and database. By inviting the public to photograph and record snow mountains and glaciers, it supplies image data for climate change research and gives the public a platform to document glaciers and speak up for the climate. It has won the Ford Conservation and Environmental Grant.
Every organization and every person can adopt a glacier for long-term monitoring and protection
Communications:
Promotional film + Glacier Memory exhibition
Fundraising target: RMB 300,000–500,000 per glacier
COMMUNICATION
Climate Communication
‘H1 2024: Antarctica Solo, China’s first Antarctic documentary film
Telling the remarkable story of founder Wen Xu’s solo crossing of Antarctica, as a tribute to the 40th anniversary of China’s Antarctic research
H2 2024: Glacier Memory photography exhibition
Linked across the twin Olympic cities of Beijing and Paris, featuring polar-glacier works by Olympic champions and scientific explorers, echoing the low-carbon Olympics theme
Communications: news moments + promotional videos
Fundraising target:
Documentary release: RMB 5 million
Glacier Memory exhibition: RMB 1–1.5 million
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
International Conferences
In 2024, Polar Hub will once again take its partners to the world stage — speaking out on glaciers and the climate crisis, sharing cases and insights, and advancing policymaking and ambitious global action.
March 21: Third Pole International Summit (World Day for Glaciers)
Q4 2024
- COP16 UN Biodiversity Conference
- COP29 UN Climate Change Conference
Communications: news moments + promotional videos
Fundraising target: RMB 500,000–1 million
