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International Consultation Workshop for Guangzhou Low-carbon Strategy

25 January 2019
Guangzhou, China
Guangzhou

In confronting climate change, countries and cities in Northeast Asia face enormous challenges. The area’s economic development is driving up the urbanization rate. It is expected that 70% of the population will come to live in the cities of Northeast Asia in the next 10 years. With rapid urbanization, these cities’ greenhouse gas emissions will also increase. Achieving low carbon development in urbanized areas has therefore become an important policy priority. To promote low-carbon development and cooperation among the cities in this region, the North-East Asian Sub-regional Programme for Environmental Cooperation (NEASPEC) launched the North-East Asia Low Carbon City Platform (NEA-LCCP) in 2015. The platform is designed to promote low-carbon policy knowledge sharing and peer-learning among experts from government, the private sector and research institutes. 

China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) is currently carrying out a national low-carbon pilot cities program in 6 provinces, 79 cities and 2 counties across the country and recently launched the third batch of low carbon pilot cities and provinces. This program aims to promote cities’ low-carbon transition by strengthening urban low-carbon policies. To better understand the low-carbon development in China at city level, NEA-LCCP has conducted the first peer review exercise for Wuhan City, China by organizing the International Consultation Workshop for Low-carbon city Roadmap:  the Green Transformation in Wuhan on 11 June 2018 in Wuhan City. The Peer Review Report for Wuhan City, China is being produced, reflecting the consultation workshop. NEA-LCCP in partnership with iGDP is developing a similar peer review report for Guangzhou City.

Against this backdrop, NEASPEC Secretariat in partnership with the Innovative Green and Development Programme (iGDP) organized the International Consultation Workshop for Guangzhou’s Low-carbon strategy on 25 January 2019 in Guangzhou, China as the second peer review workshop under the NEASPEC North-East Asia Low Carbon City Platform (NEA-LCCP). 

The workshop brought together around 40 international and local experts from fields of urban green and low-carbon development and reviewed progress of Guangzhou's Green and Low-carbon Development Strategy and discussed the medium- and long-term pathways and relevant market-based mechanism/financial support for urban green and low-carbon development.

The workshop was successful in exposing workshop participants to valuable new knowledge about low carbon city policy in Guangzhou and Northeast Asia.

A site visit to the BRT system in Guangzhou was organized on 24 January 2019. 

 

 

25 Jan 2019
Opening Remarks

Moderator: WANG Yanhui, innovative Green Development Program

  • Bureau of Ecological Environment of Guangzhou Municipality
  • Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion of Chinese Academy of Science
  • Nobuko KAJIURA, Sustainable Development Officer, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) 
Tea Break
Theme 1: Progress and Prospects of Guangzhou's Green and Low-Carbon Development Strategy

Moderator: WANG Zhigao, Energy Foundation

Overview Presentations (15 mins each)

  • LIAO Cuiping, Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion of Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • YANG Li, innovative Green Development Program (iGDP)

 

Panel Discussion

 [Questions for Panel Discussion]

  • Based on the local characteristics of the city, what are the core factors (both advantages and challenges) that influence a city’s preparation of a low-carbon development plan? How can we effectively take advantage of or address these factors in developing Guangzhou’s strategic plan?
  • What are the opportunities and challenges facing low-carbon plan implementation in the context of government restructuring?

Panelists: (10 mins each)

  • YANG Xiu, National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation (NCSC)
  • ZHUANG Guiyang, Institute for Urban and Environmental Studies Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
  • ZHAO Daiqing, Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion of Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • XIANG Dingxian, Wuhan Energy Conservation Supervision Center
  • LIU Runhui, Institute for Transportation & Development Policy
  • JIANG Xiangyang, Guangzhou Institute of Building Science Co., Ltd.
  • WU Hong, Guangzhou Environmental Protection Investment Group Co., Ltd.
  • CAI Guotian, Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Q&A Open Discussion
Lunch
Theme 2: The Medium- and Long-Term Pathways for Urban Green and Low-Carbon Development, and Supporting Mechanisms

Industrialized and urbanized countries like Japan and South Korea have accumulated rich experience as they have achieved balanced economic, social and environmental development. To sharing experiences from cities in Japan and the Republic of Korea, two sets of questions will be addressed in the following sessions. 

Session One: The Medium- and long-term pathways for urban green and low-carbon development

China's low-carbon pilot cities, especially economically developed cities, need to propose more ambitious goals as they transform their economic development models. This session will address the following questions:

  • How can we ensure the sustainable development of an urban economy and society under the constraints of energy, environment and climate change during the strategy formulation process?
  • How can we ensure the feasibility and regulatory assessment mechanisms for implementing the strategy?
  • What are the key characteristics of medium- and long-term strategy in Chinese cities (framework, content, objectives, and strategic areas, etc.)?
  • What opportunities and challenges are Chinese cities facing in the development of mid- and long-term strategies?
  • What international experiences can Chinese cities learn from?

Moderator: ZHAO Daiqing, Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion of Chinese Academy of Sciences

Presentation: (15 mins each)

  • YU Jung Min, Seoul Energy Corporation
  • CHO Ji Young, Incheon Climate & Environment Research Center
  • KIM Seonyoung, Gwangju Metropolitan City 
  • WANG Dong, Shenzhen Research Center for Response to Climate Change

Panel discussion

  • HU Xiulian, Energy Research Institute
  • SHI Zhicheng, China Quality Certification Centre (Guangzhou Branch)
  • ZENG Xuelan, Guangdong Research Center for Climate Change
  • JIANG Kejun, Energy Research Institute
  • Alexander Fisher, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)
  • JIN Zhen, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)
  • LIN Weiwei, Energy Foundation
  • YANG Yun, ICLEI East Asia Secretariat

 

Q&A Open Discussion
Tea Break
Session Two: Market-based Mechanisms/Financial Support for Urban Green and Low-Carbon Development

Cities account for most of the world’s carbon emissions. Despite progress in carbon emission reduction, forward-looking policies, and support from the central government, cities still face obstacles in urban green and low-carbon development. Highlighting cases of market-based mechanisms to financially support low-carbon development in China, Japan and Korea, the following questions will be addressed:

  • Are the current market mechanisms (green finance and carbon market) effectively driving urban green and low-carbon strategy?
  • What are the opportunities and challenges for the implementation of urban green and low-carbon strategies? How do we deal with these challenges and seize opportunities?

 Moderator:  CHEN Meian, innovative Green Development Program

Presentation:

  • WU Qingyuan, Representative of Guangzhou City
  • Takuya OZAWA, Tokyo Metropolitan Government City

Panel discussion

Panelists: (10 mins each)

  • LIU Jia, Shanghai Information Center

  • CAI He, Zhejiang Center for Climate Change and Low-carbon Development

  • LUO Zhigang, Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion of Chinese Academy of Sciences

  • KANG Sang In, Korea Environment Institute

  • AKAGI Junko, IGES Kitakyushu Urban Center

Q&A Open Discussion
Closing