On the morning of May 10, 2023, the Roundtable on BRI Green Development supported by Energy Foundation China was held in Beijing. Leading experts from all parts of the world were invited to discuess how to share findings of Belt and Road Iniviative (BRI) policy research, help achieve post-COVID green recovery, and identify future work priorities of the BRI Internatioanl Green Development Coalition. In addition, the international dissemination event on the theme of “Green Silk Road Journey (2023)” was launched at the roundatable, which aims to share the concept and practice of China’s “ecological civilization” compaign.

Zou Ji, CEO and President of Energy Foundation China, was invited to make a speech on BRI’s green development prospect. He said that host countries of BRI have strong demand for economic development amid the global decarbonization transition, and it is necessary to further identify each of the countries’ local needs, challenges, and the role that China can play, as they each have their own characteristics in terms of political economy, resources, infrastructure, industry, market scale, etc. Energy Foundation China is willing to cooperate with all parties and jointly promote economic prosperity, energy security, and climate change mitigation by building a multilateral cooperation platform under the framework of BRI, he said.

Other prominent guests at the roundtable included Huang Runqiu, Minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China; Grace Fu, Minister of the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment of Singapore; Marco Lambertini, Special Envoy of World Wide Fund for Nature International; Andrew Steer, President and CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund; Li Kexin, Director-General of the Department of International Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China; Ding Jie, Counsel (Director-General Level) of the Department of Regional Opening-Up of the National Development and Reform Commission China. Zhao Yingmin, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment hosted the opening ceremony of the roundtable. Dr. Zhou Guomei, Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China, and Zhang Yujun, Director-General of the Foreign Environmental Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China, hosted the roundtable discussions. More than 200 representatives from local governments, research institutions, media outlets, and other organizations attended the meeting.