Cooperation is key to global clean energy shift, experts say

Global climate and environmental experts gathered in Beijing on Sunday, September 29, 2026, highlighting the necessity of accelerated international cooperation to address pressing planetary challenges. The experts also commended China's practical advancements in its green transition.

Huang Runqiu, Chinese minister of ecology and environment and executive vice-chairperson of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), noted the accelerating global transformation and deepening crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. He underscored China's commitment to emissions reduction and green growth, citing the nation's large-scale clean energy and steel production systems, as well as its nuclear power development.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the CCICED's three-day annual meeting, Canada's Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Julie Dabrusin, stressed Canada's long-standing commitment to the council as a cornerstone for bilateral cooperation with China on environmental and climate issues. She emphasized that addressing climate change is both a moral imperative and an economic and strategic necessity.

Xie Zhenhua, China's former special envoy on climate change, called for open, inclusive, and pragmatic cooperation while cautioning against unilateralism. Achim Steiner, former administrator of the UN Development Programme, praised China's approach to integrating environment and development and highlighted the council's role as a platform for systematic thinking and effective multilateralism.

Kristin Halvorsen, former director of Norway's CICERO Center for International Climate Research, stated that China's green transition serves as both an industrial strategy and an environmental necessity. She emphasized China's importance not only as a transition example and technology supplier but also as a force for strong international cooperation in a fragmented geopolitical landscape.