Online Seminar: Economy of Tomorrow and Climate Policy

The seminar, that was jointly organized by FES and its partner, the Chinese Association for International Understanding (CAFIU), brought together experts and practitioners from Germany and China.

Dr. Barbara Hendricks, former federal Minister of the Environment and Member of the federal Parliament, elaborated on Germany’s current climate policy and the role industrial innovation and restructuring play therein. Dr. Jo Leinen, former Member of the European Parliament and former head of its delegation to China, discussed the EU’s climate policies and especially the recently proposed “Green New Deal” initiative.

The Chinese side presented China’s efforts in environmental-friendly poverty reduction within the country, but also abroad. For example, Mrs. Liu Fengwei from the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation’s (CFPA) Ethiopia office gave an introduction to her organization’s work.

Mrs. Wang Xiangyi, General Secretary of the Chinese Association for International Cooperation of NGOs (CANGO) discussed the role of civil society and non-governmental agents in fostering climate-friendly development.

Mr. Zheng Qingbao, Deputy General Secretary of the All-Chinese Environment Federation (ACEF), presented China’s environmental and climate policy in recent years.

Both sides took different foci on the role of environmental policies – the Chinese side emphasizing China’s poverty alleviation efforts and the German side  debating industry upgrades and restructuring.

However, both Chinese and German participants underlined the importance of not taking the Covid-pandemic and its economic repercussions as a pretext to roll back on climate commitments and instead concentrate on developing more low-carbon and sustainable industries.