Chinese-German NGO Low-carbon Development Roundtable Meeting
As part of the delegation of the German Minister of the Environment Dr. Norbert Roettgen on his visit to China, leading German environmental NGO representatives Klaus Milke (Germanwatch), Hubert Weiger (BUND) and Olaf Tschimpke (NABU) visited Beijing on the 7th and 8th of April. Together with the German embassy, CANGO organised an NGO roundtable meeting on the topic of climate change and low-carbon development on the 8th of April. The roundtable provided an opportunity for German NGO representatives, low-carbon development experts and Chinese environmental NGOs to discuss the common challenges and possible solutions to address the pressing issue of global climate change.
The twenty participants discussed a range of issues, shared experiences and proposed possible solutions. The German NGO experts explained the goal of Germany to build a 100 percent renewable energy system by 2050. Regarding the international climate negotiations, German NGOs would like to see the emission reduction target for the EU to be set at 30% by 2020 independently of what other countries will do. However, this might be difficult to achieve as all member states need to agree and the public in the EU think that Europe is already doing enough to address climate change.
Despite the common challenges, the circumstances in China and Germany are different. The main challenge for China lies in phasing out coal which still accounts for about 70 percent of China s energy mix. A big obstacle for faster dissemination of renewable energies is the relatively high cost compared to coal. Bringing down the cost could be achieved through better cooperation between China and Germany. While the issue of intellectual property rights is often stated as obstacle to cooperation, win-win situations are possible and many German companies are ready to engage in mutually beneficial partnerships with China.
The synergies and potential trade-offs between current concepts of green economy and low carbon economy were also discussed. For example, in China the booming solar photovoltaic industry is promoted as important element of low-carbon development, however, the production processes and inappropriate disposal of waste products of polysilicon can be highly polluting. The example shows that more attention needs to be paid to the quality of growth.
Germany needs as much support from China as China needs support from Germany. There is unfortunately no model of a low-carbon development for China to copy. All participants agreed that fundamental changes rather than incremental improvements in environmental performance of industries and cities are necessary to solve the massive problems posed by climate change. Further exchange and collaboration between German and Chinese NGOs to contribute to climate solutions will continue.
