On 9 December 2021, the 11th Sino-German Working Group Meeting on Environment and Climate Change took place in a hybrid format. The Chinese side was represented by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), the Ministry of Commerce (MofCOM), the National Development and Reform Committee (NDRC), the Ministry of Transport of the People’s Republic of China (MoT) and the Ministry of Natural Resources of the People’s Republic of China (MNR). From the German side, representatives of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) participated.
Dr. Kasten SACH, Director General of the International, European and Climate Policy at the BMU as well as ZHOU Guomei, Director General of the Department of International Cooperation at MEE, highlighted the importance of the bilateral partnership as a platform of exchange between China and Germany regarding the cooperation in the contexts of environment and climate. The political agreement on bilateral cooperation projects in the framework of the International Climate Initiative (IKI) was one of the main issues discussed. The projects agreed on the cooperation between Germany and China on the concept for the Sino-German Environmental Partnership Phase III, and the top-up of the Sino-German Climate Partnership and NDC Implementation Project, which will allow an expansion of their existing activities on climate finance, mitigation cooperation in provinces and sectors, and climate adaptation. The start of the project implementation is foreseen to be launched in 2022.
Regarding the future bilateral cooperation, both sides discussed cooperation ideas on the following topics: Carbon market and non-CO2 emission reduction, supporting China’s climate targets through energy sector decarbonization, Sino-German cooperation on low carbon transport, climate investment and finance, public education on addressing climate change and low-carbon and resilient cities. Furthermore, marine litter, natural protected areas monitoring, and supply chains were mentioned as potential future areas of collaboration in the context of climate policy and sustainable finance. Both sides agreed to organize a working-level meeting in the first quarter of 2022 to follow up on the discussion on potential new areas of joint action.
The second Sino-German Working Group Meeting which took place in a virtual format was deemed very fruitful, while both sides agreed that cooperation will be continued after the formation of the new German government.
