The “China-UK Forum on Green and Low Carbon Development through Engineering Technology” hosted jointly by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (“MOST”), the Chinese Academy of Engineering (“CAE”), and the UK Royal Academy of Engineering (“RAE”) was held online and offline on April 24, 2021 during the 19th Conference on International Exchange of Professionals, where Wang Zhigang, Minister of Science and Technology of China, Li Xiaohong, President of the CAE, and Sir Jim McDonald, President of the RAE delivered their speeches by video.

Wang Zhigang said that achieving decarbonization and promoting green development have become common actions for all countries to address global climate change; peaking carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality would trigger a scientific and technological revolution marked by decarbonization, give rise to a series of new theories, methods and means in the field of basic research, expedite a series of major disruptive technological innovations, and provide broad room for cooperation and innovation for the international sci-tech community and global scientists; centering on the fulfillment of China’s solemn promise to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060 made to the international community and the green and low-carbon development goals proposed in the Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan, the MOST has been accelerating the formulation of the action plan and technology roadmap to support peaking carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality with science and technology and comprehensively advancing research and development, platform construction, achievements demonstration, and international cooperation in science and technology.

According to Wang Zhigang, China and the UK have a broad consensus in terms of advancing green and low-carbon development through sci-tech innovation, and both sides have bright prospects for cooperation in this area; the MOST appreciated the UK side’s proposal that China and the UK carry out practical sci-tech cooperation around decarbonization and sustainable development and was willing to share useful experience in sci-tech planning, policy instruments, and actions and initiatives in the field of green and low-carbon development so as to set a model of international sci-tech cooperation for developed and developing countries to work together to achieve the goal of low-carbon emissions. He expressed the hope that China and the UK would take this Forum as a starting point to jointly establish a more effective platform for sci-tech cooperation, accelerate a group of joint research projects in the field of peaking carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality, and take practical actions to address global climate change and accelerate green and low-carbon development.

Sir Jim McDonald believed that China and the UK have a long and fruitful history of cooperation in energy and decarbonization research and innovation and expressed the hope that both countries would establish an engineering technology partnership that matches the long-term goals of carbon neutrality and net-zero emissions of the Chinese and British governments today. He suggested that engineering provided not only technical solutions and implementation mechanisms but also different system management approaches to help decision-makers cope with complex long-term changes. According to him, the RAE has been actively supporting the British government in making engineering systems thinking an important tool to manage the multiple transformations that occur in achieving the net-zero emissions target; in the future, the UK side would work with the MOST, the CAE, and Chinese universities, research institutes and business circles to carry out a series of follow-up collaborations, develop new knowledge sharing mechanisms, and foster systematic thinking in emerging technology areas where both countries have advantages, including hydrogen energy, power grid technology, and building environment, to serve the decarbonization goals of both countries and support them in becoming pioneers of global decarbonization actions and sustainable societies for all.

President Li Xiaohong said that engineering science and technology has been playing an irreplaceable role in the field of decarbonization. According to him, the CAE would uphold the good tradition of sci-tech cooperation between both countries, actively communicate with the UK side in the field of decarbonization, and carry out deeper cooperation with the UK side in terms of strategic paths and policy suggestions for decarbonization by holding seminars and conducting joint research, so as to offer more scientific and objective advice and suggestions for the two governments to achieve the decarbonization goals, make the cooperation between China and the UK in the field of decarbonization a successful example of jointly addressing the climate challenges, and take the cooperation as an opportunity to promote the international engineering circles to jointly tackle climate challenges.

Pan Jiahua, Member of the Academic Board, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Dervilla Mitchell, fellow of the RAE and Deputy Chair of ARUP, Shu Yinbiao, Chairman of China Huaneng Group Co., Ltd. and Academician of the CAE, and John Loughhead, former Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) of the UK, Fellow of the RAE and foreign academician of the CAE, successively gave keynote speeches on green and low-carbon development policies and decarbonization research and innovative applications. Zhou Dadi, former Director-General of the Energy Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission of China, hosted the interactive session of the Forum. Academician Du Xiangwan, former Vice President of the CAE and Honorary Director of China’s National Climate Change Expert Committee, and Sir Jim McDonald made concluding remarks separately on behalf of the CAE and the RAE.

The Forum was attended by guests including Deng Yonghui, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Science and Technology Talent and Popularization of the MOST, Jiang Sunan, Minister Counsellor for Science and Technology Affairs, the Chinese Embassy in the UK, Liu Yongzhi, Level I Inspector of China Association for International Exchange of Personnel, and staff from the Department of International Cooperation, Department of Foreign Expert Services and Administrative Center for China’s Agenda 21 (ACCA 21) of the MOST, as well as Nick Starkey, Director of Policy and External Affairs of the RAE, Andrew Goudie, Special Adviser to the Principal, Atilla Incecik, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Campbell Booth, Head of the Electronic and Electrical Engineering Department at the University of Strathclyde, and Keith Bell, Co-Director of the UK Energy Research Centre.