Association of South East Asian Nations

Highlights for Sunday, 2 June 2019 A view of the opening plenary of CCICED 2019 AGM in Hangzhou, China The 2019 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) opened at the Hangzhou International Expo Center, China, on Sunday. The meeting began in the morning with the presentation in plenary of research findings from eight CCICED Special Policy Studies, conducted under the aegis of its four task forces. Liu Shijin, CCICED Chinese Chief Advisor, and Scott Vaughan, CCICED Chief International Advisor and former CEO, International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), co-chaired the opening plenary. Vaughan expressed warm appreciation for the efforts of all concerned, and Liu invited comments from participants. Under Task Force 1 on global governance and ecological civilization, speakers presented findings and recommendations of their studies on: global climate governance and China’s role; post-2020 global biodiversity conservation; and global ocean governance and ecological civilization.Under Task Force 2 on green urbanization and environmental improvement, they presented on: green urbanization strategy and pathways towards regional integrated development; ecological compensation and green development institutional reform in the Yangtze River Economic Belt; and goals and pathways for environmental improvement in 2035.Under Task Force 3 on innovation, sustainable production and consumption, findings and recommendations from an SPS on green transition and sustainable social governance were presented.Under Task Force 4 on green energy, investment and trade, they discussed efforts toward the Green Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and achieving 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Participants then provided feedback and made further suggestions on these topics. Discussions highlighted many examples of good practice, as well as opportunities for improvements in policy and practice.In the afternoon, they engaged in focused discussions in six open forums. Many participants highlighted the need to adopt a systems approach that will allow for cross-cutting and multi-stakeholder approaches to problem solving. In the evening, invited guests attended a gala dinner hosted by CCICED. IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, is providing daily web coverage, daily reports, and a summary report from CCICED 2019 AGM. L-R: Dais during the opening plenary with Bernice Lee, Executive Director, Hoffmann Centre, Chatham House; Marco Lambertini, Director-General, WWF; Erik Solheim, CCICED Vice Chair, Senior Advisor of World Resources Institute; Xie Zhenhua, Co-Chair, Green BRI Taskforce and China's Special Envoy on Climate Change; Zhao Yingmin, CCICED Secretary General, Vice Minister of Ministry of Ecology and Environment; Liu Shijin, China Development Research Foundation and former Deputy President, Development Research Center of the State Council; and Scott Vaughan, Chief International Advisor to CCICED and former CEO, IISD Scott Vaughan, Chief International Advisor to CCICED and former CEO, IISD Liu Shijin, China Development Research Foundation and former Deputy President, Development Research Center of the State Council Wang Yi, Chinese Academy of Sciences Jan-Gunnar Winther, Director, Norwegian Polar Institute Ma Keping, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences Li Lin, Director of Global Policy and Advocacy, WWF Amy Leung, Director-General, East Asia Department, Asian Development Bank Zhang Yongsheng, Vice Director-General, Department of Development Strategy and Regional Economy of Development Research Center of the State Council Wolfgang Seidel, Head of the President's Office, German Environment Agency L-R: Dimitri de Boer, Country Director for China, Client Earth; Galit Cohen, Deputy Director-General, Ministry of Environmental Protection, Israel; and Stephan Contius, Commissioner for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Germany Åsa Romson, IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute and former Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden Aban Marker Kabraji, Regional Director, Asia Regional Office, IUCN Zhou Guomei, Acting Director-General, China-ASEAN Environmental Cooperation Center Xie Zhenhua addresses the plenary Bernice Lee, Executive Director, Hoffmann Centre, Chatham House Marco Lambertini, Director-General, WWF Photos from the Parallel Open Forum Xie Zhenhua and Åsa Romson Jorgen Thomsen, Director, Climate Solutions, MacArthur Foundation Jonathan Pershing, Program Director for Environment, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation L-R: Naoko Ishii, CEO and Chairperson, Global Environment Facility; Marco Lambertini, Director-General, WWF; and Joyce Msuya, Acting Executive Director, UN Environment Programme Alexander Shestakov, Convention on Biological Diversity Harvey Locke, Co-Founder and Strategic Adviser, Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative Hideki Minamikawa, President, Japan Environmental Sanitation Center Basile van Havre, Co-Chair of the Open-Ended Working Group on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework L-R: Jing Xin, Zou Yueyu, Wang Qian, and Gu Li, China