Sino-German conference on cooperation areas to develop a Green Economy

20 years after the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), the United Nations' General Assembly has chosen "Green Economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication" as one of the major themes of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) which took place in Rio de Janeiro in 2012. China and Germany are crucial partners in the transformation process towards a global Green Economy. At the invitation of adelphi and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) high-level experts from both countries discussed approaches for the transformation to a Green Economy at an expert conference on January 18th, 2011.

The conference focused on challenges and perspectives of a low-carbon and sustainable economy from a Chinese and German perspective, in particular on innovative policy approaches to low carbon and sustainable development of cities and provinces/regions as well as cleaner production in China and Germany. A platform for the development and dissemination of innovative bilateral concepts and projects was envisaged to strengthen further Sino-German cooperation. With a view to the respective national Green Economy discourses "Governance of a Green Economy" and "Sustainability Politics for Metropolitan Regions" were identified as priority fields for cooperation.

On the basis of a work programme, joint workshops and publications, the exchange of personal as well as side events at international conferences will be organised. The work of this think tank network is supposed to systematize exchange of information, to disseminate innovative and concrete approaches to Green Economy, particularly at the regional and local level and to support political initiatives of both China and Germany.