On October 10th, the 2024 Annual Meeting of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CSCE) opened in Beijing. The theme of this year's conference is "Open, Inclusive, Innovative and Cooperative, Building a Clean and Beautiful World Together". Huang Runqiu, Minister of Ecology and Environment and Executive Vice Chairman of the China Council for International Cooperation, presided over the opening ceremony and delivered a speech.

Huang Runqiu pointed out that ecological civilization is the historical trend of human civilization development, and building a clean and beautiful world is the common dream of humanity. As an important participant, contributor, and leader in the construction of global ecological civilization, China has always attached great importance to the construction of ecological civilization and the protection of the ecological environment. In recent years, guided by Xi Jinping's ecological civilization ideology, China has steadfastly pursued the path of ecological priority and green development, comprehensively promoting the modernization of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature through the construction of a beautiful China, and driving historic, transformative, and global changes in the construction of ecological civilization. At the same time, China adheres to the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind, deeply participates in global climate governance, continues to promote the process of global biodiversity, actively carries out bilateral and multilateral environmental cooperation, deeply promotes the construction of the green "the Belt and Road", and makes important contributions to jointly building a clean and beautiful world.

Huang Runqiu emphasized that the structural, fundamental, and trending pressures on China's ecological environment protection have not been fundamentally alleviated, and the task of green and low-carbon transformation remains arduous.  

Huang Runqiu stated that in the past year, the China International Cooperation and Development Council has been closely following the policy research and exchange activities of "adhering to green and open cooperation and promoting modernization development", actively serving China's environment and development cause. We hope that the International Cooperation and Development Council will further leverage its role as an international cooperation platform for new environments and development, continue to support the construction of a beautiful China, and continue to promote global balanced, coordinated, and inclusive development. We will conduct strategic, forward-looking, and comprehensive research on key reform tasks such as improving the basic system of ecological civilization, enhancing the ecological environment governance system, and improving the mechanism for green and low-carbon development, and make new contributions to deepening China's ecological civilization system reform. Research and propose comprehensive solutions and implementation paths for global environmental crises such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and plastic pollution, demonstrating new achievements in deepening the global environmental governance system. We will engage in extensive and in-depth dialogue on hot topics such as formulating nationally determined contributions that are in line with our own national conditions, and building an international energy cooperation system that balances safety and cleanliness, in order to leverage new advantages in deepening international exchanges and cooperation.

Xie Zhenhua, Vice Chairman of the International Cooperation Council and former Special Envoy for Climate Change Affairs of China, Steiner, Vice Chairman of the International Cooperation Council, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, and Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, and Halvorson, Vice Chairman of the International Cooperation Council and Director of the Oslo International Center for Climate and Environment Research in Norway, attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches. Vice President of the United Nations Cooperation and Development Council, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, Anderson, delivered a video speech.

Wei Zhongjia, Chief Foreign Advisor of the International Cooperation and Development Council and Senior Researcher at the International Institute for Sustainable Development, and Liu Shijin, Chief Chinese Advisor of the International Cooperation and Development Council and former Deputy Director of the Development Research Center of the State Council, respectively introduced the SCO 2024 Report on Concerns and Draft Policy Recommendations. The Secretariat of the International Cooperation and Development Council reports on its work to the conference. The attending committee members and experts discussed hot issues and policy recommendations.

This year's conference will consist of three plenary sessions and seven themed forums. About 400 Chinese and foreign members, experts, and partners of the International Cooperation and Development Council attended the meeting.

The International Cooperation and Development Council (ICDF) was established in 1992 as an international high-level policy advisory body approved by the Chinese government. It is composed of senior officials, experts, and scholars in the field of environment and development from both China and abroad. It has become the longest, highest level, most productive, and most influential mechanism for dialogue and cooperation between high-level officials in the field of environment and development in China's history. For many years, the International Cooperation and Development Council has conducted research on major issues in the field of environment and development in China and globally, and put forward policy recommendations, playing a positive role in promoting the construction of a beautiful China and the process of international sustainable development.