On 12 December 2023, the eighth anniversary of the Paris Agreement, the "3rd China-France Carbon Neutrality Forum", jointly organised by the Low Carbon Economy Committee of the Shanghai Services Federation, the Climate Change Working Group of the French Foreign Trade Advisors (CCEF) in China, the French & Francophone Business Center (Hongqiao) and the Suzhou New District Administrative Committee, was held at the Suzhou Shishan International Conference Center. WeCarbon's founding team, Ms. Remoca Shi and Mr. Eric Ma together with Ms. Mia Zheng, WeCarbon's China Partner and ESG expert of the Low Carbon Economy Committee of the Shanghai Services Federation, were invited to attend.
This edition took the China-France Carbon Neutrality Forum beyond Shanghai into the wider Yangtze River Delta for the initial time. Under the theme "Transforming Development Models, Sharing a Low-Carbon Future", the forum brought together more than 300 invited guests from government, business, civil society and media in China and France, while more than 200,000 viewers watched the opening online.
Figure 1: The 3rd China-France Carbon Neutrality Forum
Opening remarks were given by Bertrand Lortholary, Ambassador of France to China; Zheng Huiqiang, President of the Shanghai Services Federation; Éric Alauzet, Member of the French National Assembly and President of the France-China Friendship Group; Joan Valadou, Consul General of France in Shanghai; Tang Xiaodong, Vice Mayor of Suzhou; Song Jingwu, Vice President and Secretary-General of the China-EU Association; Guillaume Bernard, President of the China Section of the French Foreign Trade Advisors; and Jiang Bo, President of the French & Francophone Business Center and Chairman of the Hongqiao Overseas Trade Centre Cooperation Promotion Association, among others.
Ambassador Bertrand Lortholary said that protecting nature and tackling climate change go hand in hand, and that cooperation between China and France covers every aspect of climate and environmental protection. He was confident that the forum would play an even more active role in exchanges and cooperation between the two countries, and hoped that more companies and institutions from both countries would step up their efforts to protect nature and tackle climate change, contributing to the green, low-carbon transition of both countries.
Figure 2: Bertrand Lortholary, Ambassador of France to China, speaks
President Zheng Huiqiang said that the China-France Carbon Neutrality Forum is a platform for dialogue and a bridge of friendship between China and France on the shared question of humanity's sustainable development. This year the forum left Shanghai for the Suzhou New District, its debut stop in the Yangtze River Delta. He hoped the forum would use this opportunity to keep growing its influence in China and abroad, generate more innovative ideas and tangible results, and foster more practical cooperation between China and France on sustainable development.
Figure 3: Zheng Huiqiang, President of the Shanghai Services Federation
A six-member delegation of the France-China Friendship Group of the French Parliament travelled to China specially for the forum. Éric Alauzet, Member of the French National Assembly and President of the France-China Friendship Group, spoke about the social significance of climate change and stressed the importance of keeping to the emission reduction trajectory set by the 2015 Paris Agreement. He said the forum was important for building mutual understanding and cooperation between China and France, and hoped the two sides would innovate together, deepen cooperation on low-carbon transition and protect the planet together.
Figure 4: Éric Alauzet, Member of the French National Assembly and President of the France-China Friendship Group
Consul General Joan Valadou said that climate change is a major challenge facing the world today and that tackling it is a shared responsibility of all humanity. To advance the full and effective implementation of the Paris Agreement, China and France should deepen practical cooperation, make joint breakthroughs in frontier technologies, build up professional capabilities, and play a greater guiding role as the international community works out its response to climate issues.
Figure 5: Joan Valadou, Consul General of France in Shanghai
In the keynote session, four renowned scholars and experts from China and abroad shared insightful and original views on models for a sustainable human society. Zhu Dajian, Professor at the School of Economics and Management, Tongji University, and member of the Shanghai Municipal Government Decision-Making Consultation Committee, addressed the transformation of the economic development model in a keynote titled "China's New Modernisation under the Sustainability Goals". Professor Zhu argued that, taking the announcement of the sustainability goals as the dividing line, China's development since reform and opening-up can be seen as two 40-year periods. The years 2020 to 2060 are a period of high-quality development driven by the sustainability goals, which requires "four decouplings": decoupling energy consumption from carbon dioxide emissions, urban development from the expansion of construction land, and transport from car-based mobility.
Figure 6: Zhu Dajian, Professor at the School of Economics and Management, Tongji University, and member of the Shanghai Municipal Government Decision-Making Consultation Committee
Renowned French mineral resources expert Philippe Bihouix, author of "The Age of Low Tech", argued that we cannot count only on technological innovation, digital technology, renewable energy and electrification to meet the climate challenge. While meeting society's need for well-being within the limits of environmental and resource protection, we must cut human consumption of energy, materials, land and water as far as possible and change our model of economic development.
Figure 7: Renowned French mineral resources expert Philippe Bihouix
Lai Xiaoming, Chairman of the Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange, gave a speech titled "Advocating Voluntary Corporate Emission Reductions to Help Achieve the Sustainability Goals". He noted that reaching peak carbon and carbon neutrality is a broad and profound systemic transformation of the economy and society, on a scale never seen before. The climate issue touches all of industry, transport, buildings and agriculture, and involves the transition of a vast number of companies and assets. He also set out methods and pathways for voluntary emission reductions by companies.
Figure 8: Lai Xiaoming, Chairman of the Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange
Since China announced its "30·60" sustainability goals, the three organisers of the China-France Carbon Neutrality Forum have worked to promote cooperation between China and France to support the full implementation of climate strategies and speed up the achievement of these goals.
Figure 9: At the forum
As a signatory service provider of the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and a company on a national ministry's whitelist of carbon neutrality service providers, WeCarbon is committed to enabling low-carbon pathways with advanced technology. Combining proven experience from China and abroad, it provides companies with sustainability and ESG transition solutions geared to sustainable business value, helping them gain an early advantage in China's ESG transition. Going forward, WeCarbon will work with its Chinese and French partners to explore cooperation in low-carbon and digital fields, seize opportunities for shared success, and contribute to multilateral cooperation and global sustainable development.