A Chinese think tank focusing on the world's transition toward sustainable development models called on Tuesday for more attention to the practical needs facing less wealthy countries as they attempt to complete the process.

The gap between developing countries' awareness of the importance of transitioning to a greener society and their determination to carry out that shift must receive greater attention, said Zhao Yingmin, secretary-general of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development.

More focus needs to be placed on the most urgent issues, including financing difficulties and technological shortfalls, which are shared by the world's developing countries to help them make the transition, he said. Many of these countries are participants in the Belt and Road Initiative, the China-proposed global infrastructure development plan.

To address the problem, Zhao, who is also vice-minister of the Ministry of Environment and Ecology, said the CCICED will work with the BRI International Green Development Coalition and other organizations to create a network of experts to enhance knowledge-sharing and the borrowing of good practices.

The CCICED is committed to offering BRI members advice about macro and industrial development to facilitate the transition, he said, adding that environmental management support will be made available to overseas Chinese companies in a bid to reduce their environmental impacts on countries involved in the BRI.

"The BRI originates from China, but the opportunities and outcomes provided by sustainable development will be shared worldwide," Zhao said at a forum for the CCICED's annual general meeting, a three-day event that opened on Monday in Beijing.

The CCICED was created in 1992 as a high-level international policy advisory body. An annual report released by the organization said it is a witness and participant in the country's "historic shifts in its development philosophy and model", and it has played a significant role in advancing China's sustainable development.

Zhao made the remarks as the global effort to push forward the United Nations' Sustainable Development Agenda has stalled.

Citing a UN report released this year over the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, he said that progress on about 30 percent of the goals has been halted, and in some cases efforts have even regressed.

Many developing countries are scrambling to respond to extreme weather and environmental degradation, and they are usually in greater need of financial, technological and capacity-building support, which is crucial to a more sustainable development path.

"Facing these challenges, a green transition is likely to give the world more hope as it strives to achieve sustainable development and breathe new life into efforts being made to achieve the UN's Sustainable Development Goals," Zhao said.

Zhao noted that the CCICED has worked with a global panel of experts and has made a range of forward-looking and strategic recommendations on topics such as systemic innovation and green transition.

Many of its suggestions have received ample attention from the Chinese government and have even become national policies, Zhao said.

"These recommendations underpinned the changes that have been made in terms of China's overseas coal power plants," he said, explaining that the group's suggestions helped the government decide that the nation will no longer build such plants abroad.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the proposal of the BRI. Zhao said that more than 150 countries and 30 international organizations have signed on to the project.

Sustainable development principles are being embraced by those involved in the BRI, and they have seen positive results, he said.

The BRI has facilitated cooperation over infrastructure, the creation of standards and knowledge-sharing related to green development, and progress on that front has in turn played a constructive role in helping developing countries transition away from their traditional development models, Zhao said.

The BRI and the UN's Sustainable Development Agenda are consistent in their objectives and principles, and concerted efforts to promote the two projects have created opportunities for sustainable regional development, he noted.

In the new era, the CCICED is willing to conduct more research and boost cooperation with its global partners in a variety of fields, he said.

"The CCICED will also need to focus on the capacity insufficiency facing developing countries, and work to leverage resources from all parties to offer them systematic solutions," Zhao said.