Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and Hunan Research Academy of Environmental Sciences (HRAES) jointly kicked-off a collaboration aiming to speed up decarbonization of the transportation sector in Hunan province in Changsha on 25th July 2024. The cooperation with HRAES will contribute to the development of carbon reduction pathways for the transport sector at the provincial level as reference for decision makers to formulate and refine relevant strategies, policies and action plans.
Li Caiyan, Engineer from Environmental Economy Department of HRAES, introduced the socio-economic development and the current situation of the transport industry in Hunan Province. Based on current development trends, she gave an overview of the challenges and priorities for green and low-carbon transformation of the transport sector. This served as a backdrop for an introduction of the content, methodology and technical routes of the research report.
Kick-off workshop on early emissions peaking and decarbonization of the transport sector in Hunan province © Hunan Research Academy of Environmental Sciences
NewClimate Institute (NCI) brought in the experiences from the EU and India with efforts to support a transition to low- or zero-carbon transport. Researchers Finn Hossfeld and Mats Marquardt introduced key points of the transport transition. Electrification is the focus of EU mobility policy, however, so far progress is not in line with expectations. More passenger transport needs to shift from road to rail. Also, the focus needs to broaden from road transport electrification, to more comprehensively consider measures to ‘Avoid-Shift-Improve’: reducing transport demand, shifting to non-motorized and low-carbon modes of transport, and improving efficiencies.
Participants then discussed potential synergies between mitigation of CO2 emissions, reduction of air pollution and the promotion of green and low-carbon transformation in Hunan Province. During the discussion, Zhang Junfeng, School of Environment and Resources of Xiangtan University, Jiang Kang, Deputy Chief Engineer of Hunan Research Academy of Transportation Science, and Wen Ming, Director of State Grid Hunan Electric Power Research Academy of Economy and Technology, shared their views and gave guidance for the research on carbon emission reduction in the transport sector of Hunan Province.
At the end, Mr. Zeng Guihua underlined that this collaborative project is an opportunity for HRAES to further strengthen international exchange and cooperation, learn about experiences of the EU, Germany and other developed countries in reducing transport sector emissions, and promote green and low-carbon development of the transport industry in Hunan Province. GIZ highlighted that the goal of the research is to provide sound analysis and scientific advice as reference for policy makers at the Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment and other relevant departments to promote the green and low-carbon transformation of Hunan’s transport sector. NCI will provide methodological support for the assessment of socio-economic impacts of potential transformation pathways, while experts from Climate Analytics provide advisory and trainings on the application of the Low Emissions Analysis Platform (LEAP) model, which will be used for scenario development, transport policy analysis and climate change mitigation assessment.
The meeting was hosted by Mr. Shi Guangming, Director of the Department of Environment and Economy, HRAES. Mr. Tang Xiaowei, the division head from Education and International Cooperation Division, Hunan Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment, Mr. Chen Yi from Atmospheric Environment and Climate Change Department of Hunan Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment, Mr. Zeng Guihua, Secretary of the Party Committee of HRAES and Mr. Chen Can, Vice President of HRAES, and Mr. Paul Recknagel, Project Director of GIZ East Asia, were present at the kick-off workshop. In addition, experts from international climate think tank NewClimate Institute (NCI), the College of Environment and Resources of Xiangtan University, Hunan Transportation Science Research Institute, and the State Grid Hunan Electric Power Research Academy of Economy and Technology attended the workshop.
The collaboration is part of Sino-German Cooperation on Climate Change – Nationally Determined Contributions Implementation (NDCI) project, a bilateral cooperation project commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) as part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI), cooperating with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China (MEE) and jointly implemented by GIZ and China’s National Centre for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation (NCSC).
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