“Towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Think Tank Dialogue on Green Recovery and Low Carbon Development in East Asia” kicked off in Boao Town, Hainan Province last week.

(Photo: Department of Ecology and Environment of Hainan Province)

This event is part of the implementation of the 13th EAS (East Asia Summit) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on 14 July 2023 in Jakarta adopted East Asia Summit Plan of Action (2024-2028)  featuring sustainable development, climate and environment and energy cooperation. About 150 attendees from China and ASEAN and other RCEP countries (representing government organs regarded, diplomatic agencies, international organizations, private sector, think tanks, and universities) participated in the event, both online and on site.

(Photo: Department of Ecology and Environment of Hainan Province)

In her opening remarks online, Dr. Zhou Guomei (Director-General of the Department of the International Cooperation of the  Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China), stressed the country's honest determination at jointly exploring environmental and climate governance solutions with regional countries. She also introduced some of China’s recent achievements along the journey of realizing the set goals of “carbon peak” and “carbon neutrality” (including sustainable energy development, installed renewable energy capacity reaching nearly 52 percent and surpassing installed fossil energy capacity for the first time, increased forestation enlargement,  dedication to international environment cooperation and global environment governance,  chairing the COP 15 that led pushing for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and officially launching the Kunming Biodiversity Fund in May of this year). She also noted that China has been a solid actor actively promoting the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement.

A representative from the Department of Ecology and Environment of Hainan Province highlighted the province's important location advantage in China-ASEAN cooperation, and the role it plays in reducing carbon emission and pollutions, expanding green areas, and—as a national pilot zone for ecological conservation—accelerating the transition towards a green and low-carbon development model. Hainan has been actively launching communication with regional ASEAN and RCEP countries (like Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, and Australia) and countries outside the region (including the USA, the UK and Germany) on climate change, rainforest and biodiversity protection, plastic pollution abatement, clean energy development, as well as other international ecology and environment issues.

(Photo: Department of Ecology and Environment of Hainan Province)

Combining with their own scientific research background, some other attending experts also shared their own insights on specific issues and the advantage that Hainan has in pushing forward international cooperation on ecology and environment protection.

Wu Guanglong (an expert on plastic control from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the PRC) said that China is overall in a leading position in plastic control and governance and its work has won recognition from the international community, while Hainan’s measures like banning disposable, non-degrable plastic products, can be an example for other Chinese provinces or even other countries. Li Xia, another expert also from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the PRC, stressed that for Hainan to be an “ecological island” is a national orientation that China endows the province with alongside becoming a free trade port, and that Hainan is a very unique area in terms of biodiversity. She expressed hopes that this event can help neighboring—especially ASEAN—countries know about and bolster or even participate in what's happening in Hainan.

Followed by an investigation and research tour to nearby places the next day to showcase the ecological and environmental work in Boao, the whole dialogue then concluded.