The 2nd Chief Advisors-Secretariat Joint Working Meeting of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) of 2025 was held in-person in Chongqing and online on April 28. Chaired by Li Yonghong, CCICED Deputy Secretary-General and Director-General of the Foreign Environmental Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the meeting provided updates on the research progress of Special Policy Studies (SPSs) and Scoping Studies research progress and facilitated a synergy discussion among the research teams.

Liu Shijin and Scott Vaughan, CCICED Chief Advisors, Zhou Guomei, CCICED Deputy Secretary-General and Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China, and Eva Yu, Consul General of the Consulate General of Canada in Chongqing, delivered remarks at the meeting.

Liu Shijin emphasized that, in light of the new circumstances and challenges of global governance and trade cooperation, the development of green and low-carbon industries will bring opportunities for the global economy and offers new momentum for China's high-quality development. He highlighted that achieving a green and low-carbon transition requires extensive cooperation among countries and organizations worldwide, and called for the establishment of a more open, inclusive, mutually beneficial, and win-win cooperation mentality and paradigm in the pursuit of sustainable development.

Scott Vaughan spoke highly of President Xi Jinping's remarks at the Leaders Meeting on Climate and the Just Transition, noting that the call to "strengthen results-oriented actions" provides strong guidance significance for CCICED's research, which includes 8 SPS and 2 Scoping Studies this year. He emphasized that all research teams should take a people-centered and community-focused approach in developing their policy recommendations; by placing people at the heart of CCICED's work, the resulting solutions will be not only technically sound but also socially inclusive, equitable and responsive to real-world challenges.

Zhou Guomei pointed out that the green transition is integral for advancing global sustainable development and constitutes a fundamental strategy to address climate change. She stressed that the global community urgently needs to build greater consensus and maintain the momentum of green development. Against the backdrop of current global situation, Zhou emphasized that CCICIED should inject more positive energy into global environmental governance by focusing its future work on resulted based outcomes, strengthening communication and synergy among different research teams, and enhancing the dissemination and influence of its research findings and policy recommendations.

Eva Yu noted that green transition and sustainable development transcend national boundaries, involving not only environmental protection but also health, security and economic development, all of which require global cooperation and science-based solutions. She highlighted that CCICED serves as an important and unique platform for China and the international community, supporting research across key fields including global climate governance, sustainable development, biodiversity conservation, adaptation, circular economy and other related fields. She also stressed the importance of integrating gender mainstreaming into CCICED's research and put forward concrete policy recommendations.

The CCICED 2024-2025 research year includes 8 SPS: "Global Climate Governance and Green and Inclusive Transition", "Governance System for a Harmonious Coexistence between Humans and Nature", "Major Scientific and Technological Innovation in Green Transition", "Green Finance for Comprehensive Green Transformation of the Society and Economy", "Sustainable Blue Economy under the Vision of Carbon Neutrality", "Promoting High-quality Development with Circular Economy", "Low-carbon Transition Pathways in Traditional Energy Regions", and "Green Development Cooperation". Representatives and experts from these SPS teams, as well as the Scoping Studies on "Collaborative Innovation in Energy and Environment for High-quality Development" and "Climate Adaptation", introduced their research progress. Discussion on research synergy and collaboration opportunities also took place at the meeting.

More than a hundred representatives from CCICED Members, Special Advisors, Partners, experts from research teams, the CCICED Secretariat and the Secretariat International Support Office participated in the meeting.