Cooperation key to driving global shift to clean energy

Global climate and environmental experts gathered in Beijing on Sunday, praised China's pragmatic practices in green transition and called for accelerated global cooperation to address mounting planetary challenges.

"As the world undergoes accelerated transformation unseen in a century, the triple crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental pollution continue to deepen, posing severe challenges to human sustainable development," said Huang Runqiu, Chinese executive vice-chairperson for the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development, an international high-level policy advisory body approved by the Chinese government in 1992.

Huang, who also serves as China's minister of ecology and environment, noted the growing aspiration from the global community for advancing green transition.

He underscored China's proactive commitment and tangible actions toward cutting emissions, green growth and global climate governance. These included building the world's largest clean power and clean steel production systems, marked by ultra-low-emission retrofits on 1.17 billion kilowatts of coal-fired power capacity and 990 million metric tons of crude steel production capacity. Additionally, China has led the world with 101 nuclear power units that are in operation or under construction.

The remarks were made at the opening ceremony of the three-day annual general meeting of the CCICED. Themed "Pragmatic and Innovative Cooperation, Advancing Together for Green Development," this year's event seeks to develop a series of forward-looking and constructive policy recommendations through in-depth exchanges and joint research.

Julie Dabrusin, CCICED international executive vice-chairperson and Canada's minister of environment and climate change, stressed Canada's long-standing commitment to the council as the cornerstone for bilateral cooperation between China and Canada on environmental and climate issues.

"Addressing climate change is both a moral imperative and an economic and strategic necessity in a world that continues to be carbonized," said Dabrusin, highlighting Canada's progress in the fields of clean electricity grids, methane reduction and nature conservation.

She said CCICED's recommendations have contributed significantly to China's green transition and resonate with Canada's own experience, adding that the council's research on plastics and circular economy remains vital for the legally binding global plastics treaty.

Reflecting on his decades of experience with the council, Xie Zhenhua, former special envoy on climate change of China, called for open, inclusive and pragmatic cooperation, urging the international community to enhance confidence and focus on implementing nationally determined contributions.

Xie cautioned against unilateralism and expressed hope that the council would continue to serve as a bridge between China and the world, offering strategic advice to navigate the complex geopolitical landscape and advance global green transition.

Achim Steiner, former administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, said that China "has rewritten the fundamental assumption about environment and development".

Steiner spoke highly of the Ecological and Environmental Code, which took effect on Aug 15, and said that China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) represented "a synergistic agenda between environment and development". In a world plagued by a myriad of challenges, Steiner said, the council should serve as a platform for "pathfinding", helping advance systematic thinking and effective multilateralism.

Kristin Halvorsen, former director of Norway's CICERO Center for International Climate Research, said China's green transition has proved to be both an industrial strategy and an environmental necessity.

She noted that China's 15th Five-Year Plan translated climate commitments into coordinated cross-governmental actions, offering inspirational lessons for the world.

"The world needs China not only as a transition example and supplier of technologies, but as a force for strong and aligned international cooperation," Halvorsen said, adding that in a fragmented geopolitical landscape, climate and environmental cooperation is a strategic necessity rather than a luxury.