Ms. Jennifer Morgan, State Secretary and Special Envoy for International Climate Action from the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, and Prof. Dirk Messner, president of the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA), kicked off the NextGen Climate Dialogue Series with lectures at two renown Chinese universities. The events took place after the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visited the Tongji University in April 2024 and highlighted the importance of Sino-German cooperation and academic exchange to address global climate challenges.
The work of GIZ’s Climate Partnership project to strengthen the youth engagement on climate topics in China aligns with Scholz’s vision for enhanced bilateral partnership. The objective of the NextGen Climate Dialogue series is to provide a platform for the next generation of leaders, fostering open dialogues and learning opportunities, engaging university students on critical climate-related topics.
Photo Credit: Umweltbundesamt
During her lecture, on June 20, 2024, at the Institute for Carbon Neutrality at the Tsinghua University, Ms. Jennifer Morgan talked about the urgency of adapting to climate impacts, advocating for significant, immediate green transition actions. In her address to the students, she highlighted that “we need platforms like this to exchange lessons learned and discuss our joint path forward. Engaging with the next generation is crucial – it’s your future at stake. No country can tackle the climate crisis alone, but every country will feel its impact”. Her message underscores the urgency of collaborative global efforts and the vital role of youth in driving sustainable solutions.
The dynamic discussion with the students, Prof. LI Zheng, Dean of Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development in Tsinghua University, and Prof. ZHAI Panmao, Vice President of Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, also touched upon the economic dimensions of climate action, discussing how the integration of green technologies and sustainable practices could foster economic prosperity globally. The event was further enriched by the presence of former Chinese climate envoy Xie Zhenhua, who contributed his perspective on international climate negotiations.
Photo Credit: Umweltbundesamt
During his lecture, on May 28, 2024, Prof. Messner emphasized the urgent need for systematic change, highlighting the critical intersection of climate and biodiversity and severe need to avoid siloed expert communities and negotiations under the different United Nations Conventions. He advocated for stabilizing ecosystems and biodiversity through negative emissions (due to the severe risk of overshooting the 1.5 C reduction target) and nature-based solutions. His talk, further, pointed out the globally existing land use conflicts of agricultural land competing with natural reserves.
The atmosphere during the lecture was vibrant and interactive, with students enthusiastically asking questions on topics related to South-South and trilateral cooperation, ethical considerations related to requesting developing countries to forgo profits from coal, and energy security concerns. Dynamic moderation from Tongji facilitated a lively discussion, encouraging students to ask challenging questions and allowing Prof. Messner and Dr. Wang to provide candid and insightful answers.
Photo Credit: Umweltbundesamt
Besides the NextGen Climate Dialogues series, the Climate Partnership project also organizes student camps between Chinese and German top universities in the area of climate science. In Autumn 2024, 20 German students will be sent to Tsinghua University and in 2025, 20 Chinese students will be invited to Technical University of Munich to participate in the study camp in Munich. These collaborations aim to not only strengthen Germany’s global academic network, but also contribute to addressing pressing global issues.
For more information on existing networks, scholarships, and cooperation opportunities, readers are encouraged to visit the BMBF website.
Background on the German and Chinese academic cooperation
Academic partnership between Germany and China is nothing new. Since the 1978 intergovernmental agreement on scientific and technological cooperation, both countries continually promoted university partnerships and academic mobility. In the recent history the expansion of China as a centre of higher education, science, and innovation has significantly impacted the country’s development. With currently around 3,000 universities, China will soon overtake the European Union in the total number of universities. At around 47 million, the number of students million (MoE 2023) and the number of graduates at just under ten million in 2022 (NBS 2023) is more than twice as high as in the EU. Alongside the total numbers, the quality of the institutions is improving. In 2023, China recorded eleven universities in the top 100 of the Academic Ranking of World Universities (“Shanghai Ranking”) and seven universities in the top 100 of THE World University Ranking.
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China’s importance as a science nation has increased considerably in recent years, and the country’s attractiveness for international students from the region and the global South has grown. Strengthening “China competence”, which is also called for in the German government’s China Strategy – in the sense of specialist expertise, language skills, intercultural competence and experience relevant to cooperation – is therefore of great importance for every area of academic-scientific cooperation.
The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) advocates for a strategic and balanced approach to higher education exchange and cooperation with China. In its 2024 position paper, “Realistically Shaping Scientific Cooperation with China,” DAAD emphasizes a balanced, mutually beneficial, and pragmatic approach. Recognizing China’s significant academic influence, DAAD promotes a realpolitik strategy, allowing German institutions to benefit from access to world-leading Chinese research while ensuring national sovereignty and security. Joybrato Mukherjee, president of DAAD, highlighted that global challenges such as climate change and species extinction can only be successfully addressed through global cooperation with China.
