Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks today chaired a plenary meeting of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED). Minister Hendricks has been co-chair of this council since 2015. It draws up proposals on key issues relating to China’s development. The theme of the council’s annual meeting in 2016 is "Ecological Civilization: China and the World". During her visit to Beijing, the minister also met the Chinese Environment Minister Chen Jining for in-depth talks.
Minister Hendricks: "China is an important partner for us on the issue of climate change and sustainable development. I have thanked my colleague for China’s responsible course of action at the last Climate Change Conference in Marrakech. I am pleased that during its G20 presidency, China strongly advocated climate action and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals under the 2030 Agenda. We can build on these efforts during Germany’s G20 presidency.”
The German Environment Ministry has been advising the Chinese government on environmental and climate issues for many years. In Beijing, Minister Hendricks emphasised that the German government would continue working closely with China on implementing the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
In her speech to the council, Barbara Hendricks advocated well-ordered structural change, commenting that pioneers who take on the challenge of structural change towards sustainable development early will have major competitive advantages in the coming years. She also stressed that to fully realise the positive potential of structural change, domestic and international companies need to be dealt with on an equal footing in China.
The chair of the council is the Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli. Working groups, comprising Chinese and foreign experts, focus on different issues each year and draw up concrete recommendations for the Vice-Premier and the relevant authorities.
The advisory council has covered a broad range of topics to date: environmental policy strategies, environmental economics, environmental administration, public participation, sustainable urbanisation, biodiversity, pollution reduction, circular economy, green procurement and production, agriculture, energy and resource efficiency, investments in environmental protection and climate action, adaptation to climate change and trade and the environment.