From 18 to 19 November 2019, the third China-US High-Level Think Tank Dialogue on Energy and Climate Change took place in Beijing. It was co-hosted by COSC and the World Resources Institute (WRI) of the US, with the support of the Institute of Energy, Environment and Economy of Tsinghua University. Sun Weijia, Director General of the Internatioanl Exchanges and Cooperation Department of the COSC, chaired the opening ceremony. Other speakers include Liu Yanhua, Counsellor of the State Council and Chairman of National Experts Panel on Climate Change, Li Gao, Director General of the Climate Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Manish Bapna, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of the World Resources Institute. He Jiankun, Research Fellow of the COSC and Vice Chairman of National Experts Panel on Climate Change, attended the seminar as an invited expert.

COSC and WRI have partnered twice under the framework in Beijing and San Francisco in 2017 and 2018 respectively. With the third edition taking place, the seminar has become a standing mechanism for dialogue. Under the context of the US government altering its position on climate change, the WRI and COSC launched this year’discussion to facilitate exchange between leading Chinese and American think tanks and generate insight into the energy revolutions and policies in the two countries. This is also a good opportunity for more intergovernmental and public conversations and mutual understanding between China and the US in energy and climate change. The seminar covered four topics: climate and energy policies in China and the US, climate risks and adaptation, implementation of the Paris Agreement, market mechanism and carbon pricing.

Guests group photo

China-US High-Level Think Tank Dialogue on Energy and Climate Change in Session

The seminar brought together leading experts in the field from the two countries. On the Chinese side, there were nine of them, Zhou Dadi, member of National Experts Panel on Climate Change, Zhang Xiliang, Director of the Institute of Energy, Environment and Economy of Tsinghua University, Xu Huaqing, Director General of the National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation, Qi Shaozhou, Director of the Climate Change and Energy Economics Study Center of Wuhan University, Teng Fei, Deputy Director of the Institute of Energy, Environment and Economy of Tsinghua University, Xu Hongmei, researcher of the National Climate Center, Zhu Songli, Associate Researcher of the Energy Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission. From the US side, there were 14 former senior official and academics, such as former Assistant Secretary of the US Energy Department David Sandalow, former Senior Official of White House State Department and US Department of Energy, Todd Stern, former Special Envoy for Climate Change of the Department of the State, Christina Chen, WRI senior research fellow Andrew Light, and Pete Ogden, Vice President for Energy, Climate and the Environment of the United Nations Foundation.