March 08, 2018 – Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the China Carbon Forum hosted the first China Low Carbon Leadership Network event of 2018. The title “Coal in face of the energy revolution – building consensus for the decarbonisation of the power sector” had already promised interesting insights and therefore it was no surprise that over sixty guests listened to the opening remarks by Sandra Retzer, the Head of Sustainable Urbanization, Transportation and Energy at GIZ and the keynote address by Frank Peter of the German think tank Agora Energiewende. The following panel discussion between the keynote speaker; Dr. Gao Hu, the Director of the Center for Energy Economy and Strategy Development at the Energy Research Institute; Lena Hansen, Managing Director of the Rocky Mountain Institute and Lauri Myllyvirta of Greenpeace East Asia offered further insights into the process of decarbonisation and the future of energy production in China, Germany and the US. In the panel some of the most pressing challenges related to a coal phase out were discussed, including ways to deal with possible winners and losers of the process, political consensus building and the intersection of economic development and renewable energy.
