國(guó)合會(huì)：連接中國(guó)與世界

文/郝小然

中國(guó)環(huán)境與發(fā)展國(guó)際合作委員會(huì)（簡(jiǎn)稱“國(guó)合會(huì)”）成立于1992年，是經(jīng)中國(guó)政府批準(zhǔn)的國(guó)際性高層政策咨詢機(jī)構(gòu)。國(guó)合會(huì)成立以來(lái)，見(jiàn)證并參與了中國(guó)發(fā)展理念和發(fā)展方式的歷史性變遷，在中國(guó)可持續(xù)發(fā)展進(jìn)程中發(fā)揮了獨(dú)特而重要的作用，成為連接中國(guó)與國(guó)際社會(huì)在環(huán)境與發(fā)展領(lǐng)域交流與互鑒的重要平臺(tái)。

運(yùn)行機(jī)制：參與廣泛和高效有力

國(guó)合會(huì)的成立具有獨(dú)特的時(shí)代背景，涉及政治、國(guó)際等多方面因素。首先是改革開(kāi)放的必然要求。20世紀(jì)90年代初我國(guó)的改革開(kāi)放進(jìn)入了一個(gè)關(guān)鍵時(shí)期，更全面、更深入的對(duì)外開(kāi)放既是中國(guó)政府需要堅(jiān)持的方針，也是國(guó)際社會(huì)的期待。其次是中國(guó)多邊合作意愿強(qiáng)烈。1992年聯(lián)合國(guó)在里約熱內(nèi)盧召開(kāi)環(huán)境與發(fā)展會(huì)議前夕，環(huán)境與發(fā)展問(wèn)題已經(jīng)成為世界各國(guó)關(guān)注的焦點(diǎn)，中國(guó)環(huán)境狀況關(guān)系到世界環(huán)境的健康和人類的福祉。以1987年發(fā)布的《我們共同的未來(lái)》特別是1992年里約環(huán)發(fā)大會(huì)為標(biāo)志，世界開(kāi)始步入追求可持續(xù)發(fā)展的時(shí)代。里約環(huán)發(fā)大會(huì)呼吁為實(shí)現(xiàn)可持續(xù)發(fā)展建立全球伙伴關(guān)系，呼吁發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家?guī)椭l(fā)展中國(guó)家解決環(huán)境與發(fā)展的問(wèn)題與矛盾。中國(guó)在這一歷史時(shí)期迫切需要全面深入地向國(guó)際社會(huì)學(xué)習(xí)，這是成立國(guó)合會(huì)的實(shí)際需求。在此情況下，中國(guó)政府于1992年正式批準(zhǔn)成立國(guó)合會(huì)，作為中國(guó)環(huán)境與發(fā)展領(lǐng)域的國(guó)際性高級(jí)政策咨詢機(jī)構(gòu)，為中國(guó)的高層決策者提供有關(guān)解決環(huán)境與發(fā)展領(lǐng)域重大問(wèn)題的政策建議。

自成立以來(lái)，國(guó)合會(huì)創(chuàng)建了中國(guó)與世界在環(huán)境與發(fā)展領(lǐng)域的獨(dú)特品牌，不僅將可持續(xù)發(fā)展理念帶入中國(guó)，促進(jìn)中國(guó)與國(guó)際社會(huì)在環(huán)境與發(fā)展領(lǐng)域的交流與互鑒，而且提出百余項(xiàng)具有前瞻性、戰(zhàn)略性、預(yù)警性的政策建議，對(duì)中國(guó)的環(huán)境與發(fā)展進(jìn)程產(chǎn)生深刻影響。

國(guó)合會(huì)的成功發(fā)展主要得益于其獨(dú)特機(jī)制，迄今為止在世界范圍內(nèi)也鮮有相同范例，主要體現(xiàn)在以下幾個(gè)方面。

國(guó)合會(huì)年會(huì)會(huì)場(chǎng)

一是組織層次高，參與廣泛。國(guó)合會(huì)從建立開(kāi)始，一直得到中國(guó)政府的高度重視和大力支持，國(guó)合會(huì)主席一直由中國(guó)國(guó)務(wù)院主管環(huán)保工作的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人擔(dān)任。每屆國(guó)合會(huì)由約50名中外方委員組成，一屆任期5年，今年是第六屆國(guó)合會(huì)的最后一年，第七屆國(guó)合會(huì)將于2022年啟動(dòng)。國(guó)合會(huì)委員主要由政要、知名學(xué)者、商界領(lǐng)袖、國(guó)際組織和環(huán)保非政府組織代表組成。國(guó)合會(huì)每年舉辦環(huán)境領(lǐng)域的最高級(jí)別會(huì)議國(guó)合會(huì)年會(huì)，邀請(qǐng)中外委員參加，向中國(guó)政府提出政策建議。此外，每年還有200多名中外專家學(xué)者參與國(guó)合會(huì)的研究工作。事實(shí)表明，沒(méi)有哪個(gè)國(guó)家有類似的擁有眾多國(guó)際性高級(jí)別人士廣泛持久參與的機(jī)制。高層次、多元化的委員，優(yōu)秀的研究團(tuán)隊(duì)和眾多優(yōu)質(zhì)的參與方，使得國(guó)合會(huì)具備了提供高質(zhì)量、多樣性和包容性政策咨詢的基本條件。

二是主題鮮明，成果直達(dá)高層。國(guó)合會(huì)根據(jù)國(guó)內(nèi)環(huán)境與發(fā)展政策迫切需求，選取并設(shè)立交叉研究課題，邀請(qǐng)中外專家共同開(kāi)展政策研究活動(dòng)。經(jīng)過(guò)國(guó)際與國(guó)內(nèi)兩個(gè)不同視角的交流碰撞形成共同成果，再通過(guò)年會(huì)上中外委員多次討論和修改后上報(bào)中國(guó)政府高層。國(guó)家領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人每年出席國(guó)合會(huì)年會(huì)或其他重大活動(dòng)，當(dāng)面聽(tīng)取政策建議；國(guó)合會(huì)以書(shū)面形式提交給國(guó)務(wù)院和有關(guān)政府部門(mén)供決策參考?！爸蓖ㄜ嚒睓C(jī)制確保國(guó)合會(huì)政策建議直達(dá)國(guó)家領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人，這種政策咨詢機(jī)制吸引了眾多中外頂尖專家的參與。政策建議還會(huì)通過(guò)國(guó)合會(huì)網(wǎng)站、圓桌會(huì)議、出版物等形式向中央、地方政府和社會(huì)相關(guān)者發(fā)布。

三是內(nèi)部機(jī)制高效有力，不斷創(chuàng)新提升。國(guó)合會(huì)的內(nèi)部管理層次清晰、分工明確：設(shè)立主席團(tuán)對(duì)重大事項(xiàng)和工作規(guī)則進(jìn)行決策；設(shè)在生態(tài)環(huán)境部的國(guó)合會(huì)秘書(shū)處和秘書(shū)處國(guó)際支持辦公室是國(guó)合會(huì)的具體辦事機(jī)構(gòu)；中外首席顧問(wèn)及其專家支持組負(fù)責(zé)擬定國(guó)合會(huì)的主題和研究方向，指導(dǎo)課題組研究工作，起草每年的關(guān)注問(wèn)題報(bào)告和給中國(guó)政府的政策建議。此外，國(guó)合會(huì)在中外委員組成、研究主題的識(shí)別、研究工作的組織形式和運(yùn)行機(jī)制等多方面進(jìn)行了多次改革和階段性調(diào)整，以提高政策咨詢的質(zhì)量。

百余份研究報(bào)告，近千余條政策建議

向中國(guó)政府提供政策咨詢并產(chǎn)生實(shí)質(zhì)性影響是國(guó)合會(huì)的宗旨和價(jià)值所在。國(guó)合會(huì)始終深度參與中國(guó)環(huán)境與發(fā)展綜合決策支持進(jìn)程，堅(jiān)持從戰(zhàn)略高度倡導(dǎo)環(huán)境與經(jīng)濟(jì)、社會(huì)的和諧以及可持續(xù)發(fā)展，通過(guò)戰(zhàn)略性、前瞻性、預(yù)警性的研究提出了大量具有重大價(jià)值的政策建議，對(duì)中國(guó)的政策發(fā)展作出了積極、有益、意義深遠(yuǎn)的貢獻(xiàn)。國(guó)務(wù)院總理李克強(qiáng)在2013年會(huì)見(jiàn)國(guó)合會(huì)委員時(shí)指出：“國(guó)合會(huì)針對(duì)中國(guó)環(huán)境與發(fā)展面臨的重大問(wèn)題提出的政策建議有不少為中國(guó)政府所采納，在實(shí)踐中取得積極成效?！?/p>

自創(chuàng)建以來(lái)，國(guó)合會(huì)建立了近百個(gè)課題組、專題組或工作組，組織了上千名專家學(xué)者對(duì)中國(guó)環(huán)境與發(fā)展領(lǐng)域的主要問(wèn)題展開(kāi)較全面和深入的研究工作，形成了百余份政策研究報(bào)告，向中國(guó)政府提交了近千余條政策建議，并向相關(guān)部門(mén)提供更多更加具體的建議。國(guó)合會(huì)的政策建議通過(guò)多種渠道對(duì)中國(guó)環(huán)境政策實(shí)踐產(chǎn)生重要影響。有些政策建議或者被直接采納，或者引發(fā)國(guó)內(nèi)對(duì)某項(xiàng)政策議題討論，以間接的方式加速或改變了政策進(jìn)程；有些政策建議在當(dāng)年就引起決策者的注意，而有些建議則在幾年后逐步變成政策現(xiàn)實(shí)。國(guó)合會(huì)確定新的政策研究項(xiàng)目主要有兩個(gè)依據(jù)：一是國(guó)際環(huán)境與發(fā)展的進(jìn)程和相對(duì)于中國(guó)在知識(shí)和經(jīng)驗(yàn)方面的比較優(yōu)勢(shì)；二是中國(guó)環(huán)境與發(fā)展的形勢(shì)及其迫切需求。

國(guó)合會(huì)政策研究相關(guān)報(bào)告

第一屆國(guó)合會(huì)（1992—1996年）和第二屆國(guó)合會(huì)（1997—2001年）主要以學(xué)習(xí)和借鑒國(guó)際理論和研究經(jīng)驗(yàn)為主。第一屆國(guó)合會(huì)正值里約峰會(huì)將世界帶入追求可持續(xù)發(fā)展的新紀(jì)元，國(guó)際環(huán)境與發(fā)展合作也進(jìn)入新階段。中國(guó)政府積極提出《環(huán)境與發(fā)展十大對(duì)策》，率先發(fā)布了《中國(guó)21世紀(jì)議程》，首次將可持續(xù)發(fā)展概念和戰(zhàn)略納入國(guó)家經(jīng)濟(jì)社會(huì)發(fā)展的長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)規(guī)劃。因此，第一屆國(guó)合會(huì)的政策研究主要圍繞一些重點(diǎn)領(lǐng)域開(kāi)展基礎(chǔ)性研究展開(kāi)，以引進(jìn)基本理論和借鑒實(shí)踐經(jīng)驗(yàn)為主，涉及生物多樣性保護(hù)、能源戰(zhàn)略與技術(shù)、科學(xué)技術(shù)、資源核算與定價(jià)、環(huán)境監(jiān)測(cè)、污染控制、環(huán)境與貿(mào)易、經(jīng)濟(jì)計(jì)劃和環(huán)境保護(hù)等方面。第二屆國(guó)合會(huì)期間全球環(huán)境合作取得階段成果，聯(lián)合國(guó)千年發(fā)展目標(biāo)發(fā)布。國(guó)內(nèi)首次提出轉(zhuǎn)變經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)方式的要求，并努力于2001年加入世界貿(mào)易組織。在這一形勢(shì)下，國(guó)合會(huì)的研究項(xiàng)目在第一屆的基礎(chǔ)上增加了超前性、預(yù)警性研究，涉及清潔生產(chǎn)、環(huán)境與交通、經(jīng)濟(jì)計(jì)劃與環(huán)境保護(hù)、西部開(kāi)發(fā)中的林草問(wèn)題、可持續(xù)農(nóng)業(yè)等方面。

第三屆國(guó)合會(huì)（2002—2006年）和第四屆國(guó)合會(huì)（2007—2011年）處于轉(zhuǎn)型升級(jí)時(shí)期。第三屆國(guó)合會(huì)基于國(guó)際環(huán)發(fā)觀念的轉(zhuǎn)變和中國(guó)的戰(zhàn)略轉(zhuǎn)型，成為國(guó)合會(huì)重要改革時(shí)期。主要體現(xiàn)在兩個(gè)方面：更新了大批委員，增加了一名國(guó)際副主席，國(guó)際支持顯著增加；實(shí)行首席顧問(wèn)制度，為國(guó)合會(huì)研究和其他實(shí)際工作提供指導(dǎo)和建議。研究隊(duì)伍經(jīng)過(guò)改革更具系統(tǒng)性，第三屆國(guó)合會(huì)主要集中在可持續(xù)農(nóng)業(yè)、可持續(xù)工業(yè)、可持續(xù)城市化、環(huán)境管理四個(gè)領(lǐng)域。第四屆國(guó)合會(huì)較前三屆取得了長(zhǎng)足發(fā)展，最關(guān)鍵的因素是準(zhǔn)確判斷出中國(guó)環(huán)境與發(fā)展進(jìn)程開(kāi)始發(fā)生戰(zhàn)略轉(zhuǎn)型的形勢(shì)，更加注重從整體上和宏觀層面把握中國(guó)的需求，增強(qiáng)了研究主題的針對(duì)性、前瞻性和戰(zhàn)略性，增加了政策研究成果的集成度和系統(tǒng)性。準(zhǔn)確地把握了中國(guó)和環(huán)境與發(fā)展戰(zhàn)略轉(zhuǎn)型的新形勢(shì)，針對(duì)關(guān)鍵性的重大問(wèn)題，先后確立了創(chuàng)新與環(huán)境友好型社會(huì)，機(jī)制創(chuàng)新與和諧發(fā)展，能源、環(huán)境與發(fā)展，生態(tài)系統(tǒng)管理與綠色發(fā)展，經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展方式的綠色轉(zhuǎn)型等五大主題。在此階段，一些國(guó)合會(huì)前瞻性政策建議最終被中國(guó)政府采納并產(chǎn)生重要影響：如早在2008年國(guó)合會(huì)就開(kāi)展了基于市場(chǎng)的碳價(jià)研究，并對(duì)碳交易的設(shè)計(jì)、范圍、監(jiān)測(cè)和實(shí)施提出建議，就建議在7個(gè)省份開(kāi)展排放交易系統(tǒng)試點(diǎn)項(xiàng)目。2013年，中國(guó)在7個(gè)省市開(kāi)展了碳排放權(quán)交易試點(diǎn)。

第五屆國(guó)合會(huì)（2012—2016年）和第六屆國(guó)合會(huì)（2017—2021年）處于穩(wěn)步發(fā)展階段。第五屆國(guó)合會(huì)的時(shí)間段恰好與“十二五”時(shí)期中國(guó)大力推進(jìn)生態(tài)文明建設(shè)相吻合，也與全球重新審視環(huán)境與發(fā)展、推動(dòng)實(shí)施2030年可持續(xù)發(fā)展議程的時(shí)機(jī)相契合，將綠色發(fā)展和綠色轉(zhuǎn)型作為核心關(guān)注貫穿始終，對(duì)國(guó)家治理體系改革、治理能力提升予以充分關(guān)注，設(shè)置了區(qū)域平衡與綠色發(fā)展、面向綠色發(fā)展的環(huán)境與社會(huì)、綠色發(fā)展的管理制度創(chuàng)新、綠色轉(zhuǎn)型的國(guó)家治理能力、生態(tài)文明——中國(guó)與世界五大主題。正在進(jìn)行的第六屆國(guó)合會(huì)期間在環(huán)境政策與實(shí)施方面發(fā)生了一系列重要轉(zhuǎn)變，這也是國(guó)合會(huì)成立以來(lái)最具挑戰(zhàn)性的時(shí)期。受新冠肺炎疫情影響，世界經(jīng)濟(jì)面臨艱難復(fù)蘇的局面，為國(guó)合會(huì)的運(yùn)行和轉(zhuǎn)變帶來(lái)多重挑戰(zhàn)。第六屆國(guó)合會(huì)更加密切地關(guān)注國(guó)家、地方和國(guó)際層面的環(huán)境與發(fā)展治理創(chuàng)新，與中國(guó)“十三五”規(guī)劃中實(shí)現(xiàn)國(guó)家治理能力現(xiàn)代化的目標(biāo)聯(lián)系起來(lái)，同世界環(huán)境與發(fā)展進(jìn)程的互動(dòng)顯著增強(qiáng)，緊緊圍繞氣候變化巴黎協(xié)定、聯(lián)合國(guó)2030可持續(xù)發(fā)展目標(biāo)、生物多樣性框架公約等全球目標(biāo)開(kāi)展工作。研究領(lǐng)域包括碳中和、氣候變化承諾、“一帶一路”倡議綠色發(fā)展、自然保護(hù)、國(guó)內(nèi)治理體系在政策與實(shí)施方面的變化等。此階段國(guó)合會(huì)也提出諸多具有影響力的政策建議并被中國(guó)政府采納：如2021年，中國(guó)全國(guó)碳交易市場(chǎng)正式啟動(dòng)，生態(tài)環(huán)境部新聞發(fā)布會(huì)中引用了國(guó)合會(huì)外方首席顧問(wèn)的觀點(diǎn)。又如，2018年，國(guó)合會(huì)建議中國(guó)同其他國(guó)家合作應(yīng)對(duì)塑料污染。同年，中國(guó)、加拿大和法國(guó)簽訂了鼓勵(lì)相關(guān)行動(dòng)的聯(lián)合聲明。2018年，國(guó)合會(huì)建議制定《長(zhǎng)江保護(hù)法》，2020年12月中國(guó)通過(guò)了《長(zhǎng)江保護(hù)法》，并于2021年3月1日起正式實(shí)施。類似的成功案例還有很多。

價(jià)值與前景：為建設(shè)清潔美麗的世界貢獻(xiàn)智慧和力量

全球性挑戰(zhàn)需要全球性解決方案。從國(guó)合會(huì)的組成結(jié)構(gòu)和運(yùn)行機(jī)制、主要政策活動(dòng)以及對(duì)中國(guó)的政策影響可以看出其存在的獨(dú)特價(jià)值。國(guó)合會(huì)已經(jīng)推動(dòng)形成了一個(gè)關(guān)于中國(guó)環(huán)境與發(fā)展以及如何應(yīng)對(duì)多重挑戰(zhàn)的獨(dú)特知識(shí)體系，并且已經(jīng)對(duì)中國(guó)國(guó)內(nèi)甚至國(guó)外環(huán)發(fā)進(jìn)程產(chǎn)生重要的正面影響，且這種影響也必將延續(xù)下去。

對(duì)于國(guó)合會(huì)的價(jià)值，中外高層人士給予了高度評(píng)價(jià)。

國(guó)合會(huì)主席、國(guó)務(wù)院副總理韓正在出席2018年年會(huì)時(shí)講道：“中國(guó)政府將一如既往地支持國(guó)合會(huì)發(fā)展和壯大，支持國(guó)合會(huì)發(fā)展成為全球包容、開(kāi)放合作、互惠發(fā)展的新型環(huán)境與發(fā)展國(guó)際合作平臺(tái)，在推進(jìn)中國(guó)生態(tài)文明建設(shè)和全球可持續(xù)發(fā)展方面發(fā)揮更大的作用。”

對(duì)于國(guó)合會(huì)研究成果和政策建議的評(píng)價(jià)，國(guó)合會(huì)外方副主席、聯(lián)合國(guó)開(kāi)發(fā)計(jì)劃署署長(zhǎng)阿齊姆·施泰納在2007年年會(huì)上評(píng)價(jià)道：“我相信，當(dāng)今中國(guó)對(duì)于推動(dòng)世界可持續(xù)發(fā)展背景下的環(huán)境問(wèn)題走在前列——環(huán)境更是發(fā)展的驅(qū)動(dòng)力?！?/p>

國(guó)合會(huì)成立以來(lái)，得到不同國(guó)家和國(guó)際機(jī)構(gòu)的關(guān)注與支持。加拿大、挪威、瑞典等對(duì)國(guó)合會(huì)及其政策研究工作提供了資助，是國(guó)合會(huì)的重要捐助方；國(guó)際組織和跨國(guó)公司也為國(guó)合會(huì)提供了資金支持，支持國(guó)合會(huì)各項(xiàng)活動(dòng)的推進(jìn)。同時(shí)，中國(guó)政府有關(guān)部門(mén)對(duì)國(guó)合會(huì)工作的支持也是不可或缺的。

幾十年的發(fā)展歷程表明，國(guó)合會(huì)的獨(dú)特價(jià)值在于其發(fā)揮了以下四個(gè)方面的作用。一是連接中國(guó)與國(guó)際社會(huì)、政府與社會(huì)的橋梁，共同推進(jìn)中國(guó)乃至世界的可持續(xù)發(fā)展；二是向中國(guó)各級(jí)政策制定者傳播先進(jìn)國(guó)際經(jīng)驗(yàn)的智庫(kù)；三是供中國(guó)和國(guó)際專家坦率交換意見(jiàn)的一個(gè)國(guó)際高級(jí)咨詢機(jī)構(gòu)；四是中國(guó)向國(guó)際社會(huì)介紹其成功經(jīng)驗(yàn)和解決方法的媒介和雙向交流的平臺(tái)。

2022年是國(guó)合會(huì)成立三十周年，同時(shí)也是啟動(dòng)第七屆國(guó)合會(huì)的關(guān)鍵節(jié)點(diǎn)。在當(dāng)前國(guó)內(nèi)外形勢(shì)下，第七屆國(guó)合會(huì)將繼續(xù)秉持服務(wù)中國(guó)生態(tài)文明建設(shè)和全球可持續(xù)發(fā)展、推動(dòng)實(shí)現(xiàn)美麗中國(guó)和綠色繁榮世界的目標(biāo)，建設(shè)成為中國(guó)和世界環(huán)境與發(fā)展領(lǐng)域雙向交流平臺(tái)、促進(jìn)生態(tài)文明建設(shè)協(xié)作平臺(tái)、推動(dòng)完善全球環(huán)境治理體系創(chuàng)新平臺(tái)。通過(guò)與各方合作積極應(yīng)對(duì)當(dāng)前“三大環(huán)境危機(jī)”（氣候變化、生物多樣性和生態(tài)、污染）、疫后復(fù)蘇以及與聯(lián)合國(guó)2030年可持續(xù)發(fā)展議程相關(guān)的其他重大問(wèn)題，促進(jìn)國(guó)際合作，實(shí)現(xiàn)互利共贏，為推動(dòng)構(gòu)建人類命運(yùn)共同體作出積極貢獻(xiàn)。

The China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) was founded in 1992 as a high—level international advisory body with the approval of the Government of China. Since its inception, the CCICED has witnessed and participated in many historical changes in China’s developmental philosophy. It has played a unique and essential role in China’s sustainable development process. It has become a necessary platform for communication and mutual learning between China and the international community in environment and development.

Highly efficient and effective operation mechanism with extensive broad participation

The establishment of the CCICED has a unique historical background, involving political and international factors. The first is the inevitable need for considering environmental factors in the context of China’s reform and opening—up policy. In the early 1990s, China’s reform and opening entered a critical period. Therefore, a more comprehensive and in—depth introduction to the outside world became a policy that the Chinese government needs to adhere to and the international community’s expectations. The second is China’s strong willingness for multilateral cooperation.

On the eve of the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, environmental and development issues became the focus of world attention. China’s environmental conditions are related to the health of the world’s environment and the well—being of human beings. The 1987 report Our Common Future and the 1992 Rio Earth Summit marked a new era of sustainable development for the world. The Summit called for a global partnership on sustainable development and North—South assistance on environmental and development issues. In this historical period, China urgently needed to learn from the international community, which is the actual demand for establishing the CCICED. Under such circumstances, the Chinese government formally approved the establishment of the CCICED in 1992 as an international high—level policy advisory body in the field of environmental and development in China, providing policy advice to China’s senior policymakers on solving major issues in the field of environment and development.

Since its establishment, the CCICED has created a unique brand in environmental development between China and the world. It has promoted exchanges in mutual learning between China and the international community. In addition, It has produced more than a hundred forward—looking, strategic, and early warning policy recommendations, which profoundly impacted China’s environment and development process.

The successful development of the CCICED is mainly due to its unique mechanism, and there are few similar examples in the world so far, mainly reflected in the following aspects:

First, High—level and diverse committee. Since its establishment, the CCICED has been highly valued and strongly supported by the Chinese government. The Council Chairperson is the Vice Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China with responsibility for environmental protection. CCICED is comprised of around 50 members, each with a team of five years. This year is the last year of the CCICED Phase 6, and the CCICED Phase 7 will be launched in 2022. CCICED members are mainly composed of key political leaders, business leaders, representatives from international organizations, and Non—Governmental Organizations (NGOs). In addition, the CCICED holds the highest—level Annual General Meeting (AGM) in the environmental field. The meeting invites national and international members to participate in making policy recommendations to the Chinese government. In addition, more than 200 national and international experts are engaged in CCICED activities every year. Facts have shown that no other country has similar high—level and diverse committees with extensive and sustained participation of many high—level international members, excellent research teams, and many high—quality participants.

Second, Expressway to senior policymakers. According to critical national environmental and development policies topics, CCICED selects and sets up cross—research issues and invites national and international experts to carry out policy research activities jointly. Their studies consider both domestic Chinese needs and international experience. The studies and recommendations can be submitted to the State Council of the People’s Republic of China at AGM or through other ways. The unique “Expressway” for the CCICED findings and policy recommendations to reach the national leaders has attracted many top experts from national and international groups. Policy recommendations are also disseminated to local governments and relevant stakeholders through the CCICED website, roundtable meetings, and publications.

Third, Promoting innovation with efficient mechanism. The secretariat is based under the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and the secretariat international support office are the CCICED administrative bodies. The Chinese and International Chief Advisors and their expert support teams are responsible for formulating the theme and research direction of the CCICED, guiding the research work, drafting the annual issues paper and policy recommendations for the Chinese government. In addition, the CCICED has carried out many reforms and adjustments in many aspects, such as identifying research topics, the composition of national and international members, the organizational form and operation mechanism of research work, to improve the quality of policy recommendations.

More than a hundred research reports, nearly a thousand policy recommendations

Provision of policy recommendations to the Chinese government that can have a substantive impact on policy formulation and outcomes is the ultimate objective and value of the CCICED. The CCICED has always been deeply involved in China’s environment and development’s comprehensive decision—making and support process. It consistently advocates for the sustainable development of the environment, economy, and society strategically. Many valuable policy recommendations are put forward through strategic prospective and early warning research, making positive, beneficial, and far—reaching contributions to China’s development policy.

Premier Li Keqiang mentioned in a meeting with CCICED members in 2013 that: Many of CCICED policy recommendations on China’s significant issues of environment and development have been adopted by the Chinese government and yielded practical positive results.

Since its inception, the CCICED has established nearly 100 research groups, organized thousands of experts and scholars to conduct comprehensive and in—depth research on significant issues in the field of environmental development. As a result, they have produced more than 100 policy research reports in China and submitted nearly 1,000 policy recommendations to the Chinese government. In addition, more detailed proposals are circulated to the relevant departments. Identification of new policy study topics is based on two considerations: international environment and development agendas and their relative value in terms of knowledge and experiences; the other is the situation of environment and development in China and urgency of need.

CCICED Phase 1 (1992—1996) and CCICED Phase 2 (1997—2001) mainly focused on learning and drawing on international concepts and experiences. CCICED Phase 1 started just at the time of the new global era was ushered in by the Rio Earth Summit, with its latest proposals for international cooperation on environment and development. In addition, China issued its

Ten Strategic Policies for China’s Environment and Development and produced China Agenda 21

. Therefore, the CCICED Phase 1 topic was mainly related to fundamental studies in critical areas with an emphasis on the introduction of essential theory and practical experiences, including biodiversity conservation, energy strategies and technologies, science and technology, resource accounting and pricing, environmental monitoring, pollution control, environment and trade, economic planning and environmental conservation. During the CCICED Phase 2, significant progress was made in global environmental cooperation and UN Millennium Development Goals was adopted. In addition, China adopted a new economic growth model and joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. Under this situation of rising growth, but also taking into account both challenges and new economic opportunities, CCICED expanded its Phase 2 to include not only those topics covered in Phase 1, but also others: foresight and early warning topics related directly to the economy and environmental protection, western forests and grasslands, and sustainable agriculture.

CCICED Phase 3 (2002—2006) and CCICED Phase 4 (2007—2011) were in a period of transformation and upgrading. Based on the change of the international perception of environment and development and transformative change within China, Phase 3 had become a critical reform period for the CCICED. Thus, its members had a broader range of expertise and backgrounds. Furthermore, the CCICED implemented the Chief Advisors mechanism to provide guidance and advice on studies and other substantive aspects. These changes allowed the research team to established more systematically with carefully drawn themes and focus of work. Phase 3 mainly focused on sustainable agriculture, sustainable industrialization, sustainable urbanization, and environmental governance.

CCICED Phase 4 had made even more significant progress. The most critical factor included accurate judgments about China entering a strategic, transformative change period in its environment and development relationship, more emphasis on overall and macro—level needs of China, enhanced focus on the work, better foresight and strategy analysis of topics, increased integration among the research products, and recognized the new situation of environment and development in China. Furthermore, over the five years of Phase 4, they addressed the following themes:

Innovation and environmentally friendly society, institutional innovation and harmonious development, energy environment and development, ecosystem management and green growth, and green transformation of economic development. At this stage, some recommendations of the CCICED were adopted by the Chinese government. For example, as early as 2008, the CCICED carried out a market—based carbon price study and suggested monitoring and implementing the design scope of carbon trading. In addition, it offered to carry out pilot projects of emissions trading systems in seven provinces and cities. Then in 2013, China carried out pilot projects of carbon emission trading in seven provinces and cities.

CCICED Phase 5 (2012—2016) and Phase 6 (2017—2021) are in the stage of steady development. Phase 5 coincided with China’s efforts to promote ecological civilization during the 12Five—Year Plan (2011—2015), fitted the global re—examination of the environment and development process, and promoted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (the Agenda). Green development and green transition remained a core concern. Therefore, the CCICED paid more attention to the interaction among environment, economy, society and national governance system reform and capacity building. In Phase 5, five themes were explored, including regional balance and green development, environmental protection and green development, management and institutional innovation in green growth, enabling governance capacity for green transformation, and China’s ecological civilization and the world. Significant changes have occurred in environmental policy and implementation during the ongoing CCICED Phase 6, the most challenging period. Affected by the COVID—19 pandemic, the global economy is struggling to recover, bringing multiple challenges to the operation and transformation of the CCICED. The current phase 6 focuses more closely on environmental and development governance innovation at the national, local, and international levels. It related to China’s 13Five—Year Plan to realize national governance capabilities and significantly enhances its interaction with the world environment and development process. CCICED’s work is closely about the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the Agenda, and the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Research areas include carbon neutrality, climate change commitments, green development of Belt and Road Initiatives, nature protection, and changes in domestic governance systems in terms of policy and implementation. At this stage, the CCICED also puts forward many influential policy recommendations adopted by the Chinese government. On this, CCICED recommended that China mobilize international partnerships for action on plastic pollution. The same year Canada and China issued a joint statement on marine litter from plastic pollution. In 2018, the CCICED recommended the formulation of the “Yangtze River Protection Law”. In December 2020, China passed the “Yangtze River Protection Law”, formally implemented on March 1, 2021. There are many similar success stories.

Value and prospect: Contribute wisdom and strength to building a clean and beautiful world

Global challenges require global solutions. The unique value of the CCICED can be seen from its constituent institutions, operational mechanisms, major policy activities, and its policy impact on China. The CCICED has contributed to the formation of a unique knowledge system about China’s environment and development and how to deal with multiple challenges, and has had a significant and positive impact on the process of environmental action at home and abroad.

Various high—level figures have given their appraisal on the value of CCICED:Vice—premier and current CCICED Chair Han Zheng mentioned in 2018 AGM that: “

The Chinese government will, as always, support the development and growth of the CCICED and its development into a new international cooperation platform for environment and development featuring inclusive, open, cooperative and mutually beneficial development in the world, so as to play a greater role in promoting China’s ecological civilization and global sustainable development

.”Concerning CCICED findings and policy assessment, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator and CCICED Vice—Chairperson Achim Steiner said at the 2007 AGM: “

I believe that China is now in the forefront of helping the world to interpret the environment in the context of development

——

more as a driver for development

.”

Since the establishment of the CCICED, it has received attention and support from different countries and international organizations. Canada, Norway, Sweden, and other countries have provided funding to the CCICED and its policy research work and are essential donors of the CCICED; international organizations and multinational companies have also provided financial support and supported various CCICED activities. The support of the relevant departments of the Chinese government to the work of the CCICED is also indispensable.

Decades of experience show that the unique value of CCICED is reflected through four critical roles of the CCICED:

Acting as a bridge between China and international communities, the government and society, and between intergovernmental agencies and environmental care. A think tank to disseminate new ideas and advanced international experience on sustainable development to policymakers at various levels in China. A high—level international advisory body in which Chinese and international experts exchange views frankly. Facilitator to China in introducing its achievements, expertise and solutions to international communities.

2022 marks the 30anniversary of the establishment of the CCICED, and it is also a crucial moment for the launch of the CCICED Phase 7. Under the current national and international situation, the CCICED will continue to uphold the goal of serving China’s ecological civilization and global sustainable development, promoting the realization of a beautiful China and a green and prosperous world. It hopes to build China and the world into a two—way exchange platform in environment and development, promote cooperation in ecological civilization, and improve the innovation platform of the global environmental governance system. Furthermore, by cooperating with all parties, CCICED will actively respond to three major environmental crises: climate change, biodiversity, and environmental pollution; focus on significant issues related to the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, promote international cooperation, and make positive contributions to building a community with a shared future for humankind.