Grouphorse Chairman Xing Tang pushes global coastal protection network at UN forum

Xing Tang, chairman of Grouphorse Group, delivered a statement at UN Headquarters in New York on July 15 for Green Friends, using a Manhattan shoreline cleanup to argue for a global network of locally led coastal protection. The appearance tied a 42.6-kilogram cleanup on Randall’s Island to broader efforts around sustainable development, youth engagement and cross-border environmental cooperation.

Why it matters: - Tang used a UN forum to push a simple idea: local shoreline cleanup work can scale into cross-border coastal protection. - The message links community action, volunteer coordination and sustainable development policy in one public setting. - The appearance also showed how civil society groups can feed field experience into multilateral discussions on the 2030 Agenda.

What happened: - Xing Tang, chairman of Grouphorse Group, delivered an oral statement on behalf of the Tianjin Eco-City Green Friends Ecological Culture Promotion Association at UN Headquarters on July 15. - The statement came during the general debate tied to the High-level Segment of ECOSOC and the ministerial segment of the 2026 United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York. - The 2026 HLPF ran in New York from July 6 to 15 under the U.N. Economic and Social Council. - Tang highlighted Green Friends’ “Blue Guardians Across Borders” initiative and called for a global network to support locally led coastal protection.

The details: - The HLPF is the United Nations’ main platform for reviewing implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 goals. - The general debate gave governments, U.N. entities and civil society groups a formal venue to present implementation experience, policy priorities and action proposals. - Green Friends is a Chinese nonprofit focused on ecological protection, public participation and volunteer action. - Tang said Blue Guardians Across Borders was included in China’s Compilation of Cases on Social Organizations’ Contributions to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. - The initiative extended Green Friends’ work from China to Randall’s Island in New York. - Green Friends and local volunteers collected 42.6 kilograms, or about 94 pounds, of shoreline litter there. - Tang described the Randall’s Island effort as the first shoreline cleanup initiative launched in the United States by a Chinese environmental nongovernmental organization. - The project was designed to test cooperation that combined cross-border volunteer coordination with local implementation. - International partners helped connect resources, experience and volunteers. - Local participants contributed site knowledge, community relationships and on-the-ground execution. - The cleanup was presented as both a waste-removal effort and a trust-building exercise. - The project was also framed as a way to share a cooperation model other communities could adapt. - Tang proposed turning Blue Guardians Across Borders into a global network for coastal action. - Under the proposal, environmental organizations, community groups, young volunteers and other partners in different countries and cities could build partnerships and exchange tested approaches. - The network would preserve local leadership while letting each project reflect its own environmental, social and cultural conditions. - Tang said Green Friends was ready to share its model and experience with communities protecting coastal areas worldwide. - The statement also emphasized that nonprofit groups can help translate international commitments into local action through field experience, volunteer networks and community-level evidence. - Coastal protection was presented as connected to environmental education, youth participation, responsible consumption, healthier urban spaces, marine protection and international partnership.

Between the lines: - The statement positioned a single cleanup as proof of concept for a larger cooperation model. - The pitch favored local ownership over a top-down international template. - The framing also fit the UN’s preference for examples that connect grassroots action to measurable sustainable development outcomes. - Tang’s remarks reflected a longer collaboration between Green Friends and Grouphorse Group across environmental public-interest work, sustainability education, youth engagement and international exchange. - Their past work included a side event at the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference, “Ocean Education 2030: Empowering Youth for Marine Governance,” and support for the Tianjin stop of China’s ninth national public-benefit shoreline cleanup campaign. - Grouphorse has also built out an ESG strategy covering standards, education, data governance and international communication. - The group helped establish ESG industry colleges and centers, including China’s first ESG industrial college at Tianjin Foreign Studies University, the Grouphorse ESG Global Governance Talent Industrial College at Sichuan International Studies University, and China’s first ESG data-governance industry center at East China Jiaotong University. - Grouphorse also led drafting of an ESG capacity-building training standard. - Forbes China included Tang in its 2025 ESG Influential Business Leaders list and its 2025 Top 100 Most Influential Chinese Elites. - Forbes China cited his work on Chinese language services, ESG education and international knowledge exchange in the U.N. system.

What's next: - Tang said Green Friends is prepared to extend the Blue Guardians Across Borders model to other countries and cities. - The proposed network would give environmental groups and volunteers a structure for future shoreline projects tailored to local conditions. - The statement suggests Grouphorse and Green Friends will continue linking community-based environmental work with multilateral policy forums.

The bottom line: - Tang turned a New York shoreline cleanup into a case for scalable, locally led coastal protection — and used the UN stage to argue that small community actions can inform global sustainable development work.