China’s cross-cutting research on environment and development, which shapes its national policies toward an ecological civilization, as well as international cooperation in a world of interconnected environmental and development challenges will take center stage in the deliberations. Discussions will focus on innovation in global environmental governance; inclusive energy transition; sustainable production and consumption systems; and national green governance.

Ministers of the environment, heads of UN organizations, and lead negotiators called for focusing on scaling up implementation, underscoring that complex global challenges “must be met with cooperation, compromise, and collective action.” Nine thematic roundtable sessions explored cross-cutting implementation issues at the local, regional, and global levels.

The highlight of the Hamburg Sustainability Conference was the launch of the South-North Commission on Development, a new independent initiative to explore how international cooperation and multilateral institutions should evolve in an increasingly multipolar world.