He Jiankun, former Executive Vice President of Tsinghua University and 2015 Rotating Convener of GDTP, introduced the background behind the establishment of GDTP and its Expert Committee. He noted that President Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized the importance of strengthening think tank development. He expressed hope that this partnership would integrate high-quality resources, enable partners to cooperate and advance together on this platform, and collectively contribute to strengthening national think tank development and advancing climate change response efforts. 

Lynn Price, Director of the China Energy Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and an international expert representative of the GDTP Expert Committee, delivered a speech via telephone at the conference. She stated that in November 2014, President Xi Jinping and President Barack Obama issued a historic joint statement on bilateral cooperation on climate change, and numerous cooperative initiatives would consolidate and support the ambitious goals announced by the two countries. She believed that GDTP would become a key mechanism for promoting joint actions under the joint statement. 

Ma Xiaoming, Vice President of Shenzhen Green Low Carbon Development Foundation; Lin Ling, Director of the Resources and Environment Branch of China National Institute of Standardization; and Wang Jiansheng, President of the Energy Foundation China, delivered remarks as representatives of GDTP’s founding institutions and expert representatives. Participants stated that through the GDTP platform, partners would pool collective expertise, strengthen exchanges and cooperation, generate research outcomes and make significant contributions to China’s low-carbon development. 

At the conference, Hu Min, Acting Secretary-General of the GDTP Secretariat and Director of the Low Carbon Development Program at the Energy Foundation China, reported on the preparation of GDTP and proposed the 2015 work plan of the GDTP Secretariat. She reiterated the principles proposed by Su Wei, Director-General of the Department of Climate Change of the National Development and Reform Commission, at the GDTP launch ceremony, namely “service, cooperation, focus and pragmatism.” Fifty-seven members of the Expert Committee and representatives from 33 partner institutions discussed future work plans of the GDTP Secretariat and approaches for communication and cooperation among partner institutions. 

He Jiankun, former Executive Vice President of Tsinghua University and 2015 Rotating Convener of GDTP, delivered a thematic speech titled “China’s Carbon Emissions Peak Target and Pathways for Achievement.” 

Zhou Dadi, former Director-General of the Energy Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission, delivered a presentation on ecological civilization development and energy development targets under the 13th Five-Year Plan. 

Du Xiangwan, former Deputy President of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Academician, delivered a thematic speech titled “Low-carbon Development: Towards a Sustainable Future.” 

During the thematic discussion session, GDTP experts and institutional representatives discussed topics including energy and climate constraint targets under the 13th Five-Year Plan at both national and local levels, carbon trading pilots and the development of the national carbon market, sectoral policies for low-carbon development, innovation and long-term mechanisms for low-carbon development. 

During the conference, participating experts and representatives engaged in extensive and in-depth exchanges and jointly celebrated the successful convening of the first GDTP Annual Conference. 

The GDTP 2015 Annual Conference was organized by the Secretariat of the Green and Low-carbon Development Think Tank Partnership (GDTP), and co-organized by the Institute for Global Decarbonization Progress (iGDP) and Shenzhen Green Low Carbon Development Foundation (SZGD).