Event highlight
31.10.2024

Advancing climate goals through international cooperation

The Centre for Sustainability hosts a public event focussing on Sino-German climate cooperation.

Where does international climate cooperation – specifically Sino-German cooperation – stand in the run-up to the UN Climate Conference COP29? On 17 October, the Centre for Sustainability hosted a panel of Chinese and German climate experts to shed light on this question. The panel comprised Jennifer Morgan (State Secretary, German Federal Foreign Office), Xu Huaqing (Chief Scientist, National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation, NCSC), Zhang Yousheng (Deputy Director General, Energy Research Institute), and Christian Flachsland (Professor of Climate Policy and Director of the Centre for Sustainability). The discussion was moderated by Susanne Dröge, Head of the Climate Protection and Energy Department at the German Environment Agency.

The event kicked off with welcome remarks from Hertie School Dean of Graduate Programmes and Professor of Public Administration and Management Thurid Hustedt.

Speakers agree that countries need to work together to combat climate change

State Secretary Jennifer Morgan and scientist Xu Huaqing opened the conversation with keynote speeches about the progress and future directions of the fight against climate change.

Although she considered the upcoming COP29 the most difficult climate negotiations since Paris 2015, State Secretary Morgan showed optimism after returning from the pre-discussions in Baku. The main task at this year’s COP, she said, would be to agree on a new climate finance goal and to ensure that the contributor base is broadened. Morgan highlighted China’s impressive efforts in the field of renewable energies and pointed out the need to look ahead to reaching the 2035 net zero goals, as governments worldwide are currently working on new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The State Secretary underlined the importance of the Track-2-Dialogue as “a very good format to exchange on best practices and lessons learned” and expressed Germany and China’s desire to keep cooperating closely on climate protection.

In his address, Xu Huaqing first reflected on China’s commitment to respond to climate change by citing the country’s strategic goal of achieving a carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. He stressed the Chinese government’s recent call for promoting carbon and pollution reduction and the development of green industries. Despite showing concern for the EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism, Huaqing noted China’s willingness to deepen cooperation with other countries in the world, especially Germany and other EU member states, to jointly address global climate change.

In the discussion that followed, all panellists agreed that China’s response to climate change is crucial, as the country is the world’s largest emitter. The panel addressed how formats like the Track-2-Dialogue can include China in collaboration under the United Nations Frameworks Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The speakers also discussed how Germany/Global North and China/Global South can work together to come to an agreement for the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG).

Photos: Tim Schubert, Umweltbundesamt

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