On August 29, 2023, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), Energy Foundation China (EF China), and the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institutes of Science and Development, co-organized on the sidelines of the 2023 annual general meeting of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) an open forum on the theme of “Synergizing the Efforts on Climate Change and Forging the Path to Green Prosperity.” At the hybrid meeting that was held in person and online, more than 150 experts and consultants from over 10 countries and 30 international organizations discussed topics of green industry, economic growth, security, as well as global climate governance and China’s role in it. Over 30 leading experts of global climate and energy issues gave speeches at the first CCICED climate open forum in the post-pandemic era, reflecting the high expectation of joint efforts from China and the international community to advance green economic recovery and climate mitigation. Attendees hoped that their policy suggestions could help further a consensus on global climate governance issues and enhance the confidence of all parties in the prospects of global green recovery and growth.

Xie Zhenhua, Vice Chairperson of CCICED and China’s Special Envoy for Climate Change; Steven Guilbeault, International Executive Vice Chairperson of CCICED and Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada; and Inger Andersen, Vice Chairperson of CCICED and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program, gave opening remarks. Zhang Hongjun, CCICED Member and Chair of the Board of EF China, hosted the forum. Zou Ji, CCICED Special Advisor, International Co-Lead of CCICED’s Climate Special Policy Study, and CEO and President of EF China, gave a keynote speech, while Scott Vaughan, CCICED International Chief Advisor, gave concluding remarks.

Experts agreed that, amid multiple global crises, the three issues of economic growth, energy security, and climate mitigation can be synergistically addressed by high-quality green and low carbon development, to which a key is building a new energy system featuring high renewables penetration. They said that strengthened policies and industrial planning are needed to accelerate the power market reform. It is also important to have a sustainable global supply chain and let countries—especially developing countries—benefit from the technological innovation and progress, the experts said, who emphasized that cooperation is a core value of the global climate governance, which requires more confidence, mutual trust, rules-based cooperation, and healthy competition.

The three sessions of the open forum were hosted respectively by Bernice Lee OBE, CCICED Special Advisor, Research Director, Futures, Hoffmann Distinguished Fellow for Sustainability, Chair of Chatham House Sustainability Accelerator Advisory Board, Chatham House; Alexander Fisher, Program Director of Climate Ambition, ClimateWorks Foundation; and Zou Ji, CCICED Special Advisor, International Co-Lead of CCICED’s Climate Special Policy Study, CEO and President of EF China. Keynote speeches were given by Kate Hampton, CCICED Member, International Co-Lead of CCICED’s Climate Special Policy Study, CEO of the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation; Wang Yi, CCICED Member, Chinese Co-Lead of CCICED’s Climate Special Policy Study, Member of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, Deputy Director of the National Committee of Experts on Climate Change; Laurence Tubiana, CCICED Member, CEO of the European Climate Foundation; Tomas Anker Christensen, CCICED Member, Climate Ambassador of Denmark; Erik Berglöf, Chief Economist of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank; Qiu Baoxing, CCICED Member, Academician of the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences, former Vice Minister of Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of China; Hal Harvey, CCICED Member, President of Climate Imperative Foundation, Founder of Energy Innovation LLC; Wang Zhongying, former Director-General and Research Fellow of the Energy Research Institute of China’s National Development and Reform Commission; He Kebin, CCICED Member, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Professor of the School of Environment and Dean of the Institute for Carbon Neutrality at Tsinghua University; Su Wei, former Deputy Secretary-General of China’s National Development and Reform Commission; Hideki Minamikawa, CCICED Member, President of Japan Environmental Sanitation Center; and Christie Ulman, CCICED Member, President of Sequoia Climate Foundation. Experts participated in the panel discussion included Gim Huay Neo, CCICED Special Advisor, Managing Director of the Centre for Nature and Climate at the World Economic Forum, Laura Cozzi, Director of Sustainability, Technology, and Outlooks and Chief Energy Modeller of the International Energy Agency; Jo Tyndall, CCICED Member, Director of the Environment Directorate at the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development; Wang Jinzhao, Director General of the Research Department of Industrial Economy at the Development Research Center of China’s State Council; Lord Adair Turner, Honorary Fellow of The Royal Society of the United Kingdom and Chair of the Energy Transitions Commission; Liu Yiyang, Deputy Secretary-General and Spokesperson of China Photovoltaic Industry Association; Wade Crowfoot, Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency; David Sandalow, Inaugural Fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University; Jos Delbeke, CCICED Member, former Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Climate Action, and first European Investment Bank Chair on Climate Change Policy and International Carbon Markets of the European University Institute; Zhang Minwen, Deputy Director General of International Economics and Finance Institute, China’s Ministry of Finance; Ana Toni, National Secretary for Climate Change of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change of Brazil; and Ju Jiandong, Unigroup Chair Professor at the Tsinghua University PBC School of Finance.

EF China, CIFF, and the Institutes of Science and Development, who are co-leads of the CCICED’s special policy study on the pathway to carbon neutrality and China’s role in global climate governance, will continue to conduct forward-looking research, provide suggestions for climate action, and promote international cooperation and dialogues.