The “Sino-German Climate Change Cooperation – NDC Implementation” program serves as the knowledge hub for the IKI in China, promoting networking and exchange among IKI projects and facilitating exchange with political partners. In this role, it invited to this year’s IKI China Interface and Networking Workshop which took place from 28 to 29 August 2024. China is a priority country of the International Climate Initiative (IKI) in which bilateral and regional projects focusing on combatting climate change as well as protecting the environment and biodiversity are being implemented.
On the occasion of the workshop, representatives from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), the Federal Foreign Office (AA), and the Zukunft-Umwelt-Gesellschaft (ZUG) travelled to China to meet up with partners and implementers to discuss current status and perspectives for development of the IKI in China.
The workshop was divided into two parts: the first session focused on the exchange among IKI projects and implementers; the second session served to report project progress to the German and Chinese ministries.
Fostering exchange among projects
On the first day, IKI projects implemented in China convened for discussion and exchange among each other as well as with the visiting German ministries, ZUG and representatives from the German Embassy in Beijing. This session was also an opportunity for the projects to discuss current challenges and perspectives for the future of the IKI in China with German ministries and to learn about the IKI 2030 Strategy as well as receive updates from ZUG.
A key part was an interactive open space during which project representatives identified main topics of common interest and split up for small group discussions. Five groups discussed the topics of gender, project sustainability, adaptation to climate change, public awareness, as well as green trade and supply chains. In the groups, the participants shared their experiences and knowledge, reflected challenges they encountered and exchanged on useful instruments to address these.
Informing political partners about project progress
On the second day, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Commerce (MofCom) and other Chinese ministries joined the discussion together with the German IKI representatives and implementation partners. All bilateral and regional projects presented their recent achievements and milestones.
The representatives from Chinese and German ministries underlined that climate change cooperation is a very important aspect of the relations between the two countries and highlighted the achievements of the IKI projects. They also reminded participants that the climate crisis is already here, and to address the tremendous challenges mutual learning and cooperation are key.
