GEI’s COP 20 Side Event Focuses on China’s Subnational Carbon Targets

LIMA (Dec. 11, 2014) – On the afternoon of 11th December 2014, Chinese environmental NGO the Global Environmental Institute (GEI) jointly hosted an official side event at COP 20 titled “International Insight on China & Supporting Chinese Sub-national Governments Achieve Carbon Targets”, with the US-based Centre for Climate Strategies (CCS) and UK-based Climate Strategies.

During the event, GEI and CCS elaborated on the international cooperation experience and methods from their Eco-Partnership project for cooperation on climate change, with the intention of promoting further cooperation and exchange in the global response to climate change.

GEI’s Yu Qingchan (far right) sits on the panel at COP 20 – GEI 2014

Director General of the Department of International Cooperation at China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Mr. Haiyan LI, was invited to deliver a high-level address to begin the event. During his speech, Director Li stressed the importance of international cooperation with regards to the global response to climate change, in particular, that between the US and China.

During the event, GEI climate change program officer Ms. Qingchan YU and CCS President Mr. Tom Peterson introduced the research, demonstration process and results from the low-carbon policy analysis toolkit developed as part of the Eco-Partnership between both organizations.

Director of the Institute of Policy and Management at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mr. Yi WANG, then introduced the technical achievements from development and use of the toolkit.

The entire team celebrates a successful side event – GEI 2014

The toolkit can be used to simulate different paths to reach China’s carbon emissions peak scenario and account for the associated economic costs of implementation, supporting policy makers in their approach to low carbon development. The toolkit allows policy makers to clearly understand the emissions reductions and economic impacts of policies and inspired great interest from the audience at the side event.

During the discussion session, Ms. Yu and Mr. Peterson answered questions from the audience about the Eco-Partnership between GEI and CCS. Ms. Yu explained how taking part in the Eco-Partnership helped both organizations gain the support of the NDRC in China and the US State Department, while such national-level support facilitates dialogue with local government departments and the development of local low-carbon planning projects. Moreover, the US-China Eco-Partnership Program provides a broad platform for exchange, allowing both GEI and CCS to establish dialogue and cooperate further with other research institutes and NGOs.