Global campaigning network Greenpeace was the driving force for a forum held in Hangzhou yesterday, which, together with local institutions, brought the voice of climate-change policy experts to an audience of media professionals and other interested parties.
From 14 to 28 February, Hangzhou was the venue for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to hold its 62nd Plenary Session marking the organisation’s first ever release of a comprehensive assessment report in China.
In its wake, a select group of media and professionals in the environmental sector from all over China were hence invited by Greenpeace and the Hangzhou Ecological Culture Association to the forum, “Frontier Dialogue on Climate Change”, in Hangzhou on 3 March.
Together with The Nanjinger and media elites such as Southern Weekend, Caijing, Sina Finance and Caixin, present were approximately 20 journalists and reporters of all leanings, but each and every one united by their interest in climate change.
Gathered together, they would go on to hear about the interaction between science, policy and action through the IPCC, the obstacles faced by international cooperation and how scientific conclusions are now really ringing alarm bells.
On a more local level, those present would also be brought up to speed as to climate change and response in Zhejiang Province, and actions being taken at grass roots levels in schools via, of all things, a board game.
Among the speakers, Kaisa Kosonen, Senior Policy Advisor for the Greenpeace Nordic Office, got up very early in Helsinki to kick things off, addressing the forum via video link before accepting the media’s questions.
In addition to those representing Greenpeace itself, other speakers included Chen Ying with the China Academy of Social Sciences, Wang Kuo from the Zhejiang Climate Centre, and Dominik Springer with the Hanns Seidel Foundation Zhejiang Office.
Away from the media pack and among the industry professionals present was Shen Xinyi, Hangzhou-based Researcher with the Centre for Research on Energy & Clean Air (CREA). “International political instability and disruptions to global cooperation frameworks have created obstacles for tackling climate change on a global scale. Thus, building broad consensus within Chinese society and continuing to drive the energy transition are more critical than ever”, Shen told The Nanjinger.
“This is an ongoing mission. Seeing and hearing the stories from the seniors and newcomers in this field is encouraging”.
Such remarks summarise well the takeaway for the bulk of attendees at yesterday’s forum; the work across all sectors of society, academia and science at play being sufficient evidence for the media to leave with a degree of confidence that our climate-change efforts may pay off.
With 2025 marking 10 years since the Paris Agreement, that the IPCC was present in Hangzhou this year indicates both China’s relevance in global climate-change mitigation efforts, but also underscores the challenges it faces heading toward its self-imposed dual carbon goals in 2035 and 2060.
