On September 11th and 12th, CCICED's HLTF held both a virtual session and an in-person meeting in Oxford, attended by invited experts and the leads of the project's 4 working groups. Achim Steiner — HLTF Co-Chair and former UNDP Administrator — opened the sessions, highlighting the Task Force's dual purpose of assessing China's environmental progress and shaping recommendations for the government's upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan and beyond. Professor Sir Charles Godfray, Director of the Oxford Martin School, and Yong Ren, Head of the HLTF Expert Group and Chief Engineer at China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment, also delivered opening remarks at the Oxford meeting. Scott Vaughan, CCICED International Chief Advisor, presented the draft synthesis report — to be published later this year — and the experts explored how to sharpen key messages, better weave in working group insights, and enhance the report's framing of China's domestic progress and evolving role in the global green transition. The HLTF's final synthesis report with comprehensive policy guidance will be published next year.

The working groups participated in the meeting on September 12

Before the meeting, the HLFT expert group visited CCICED partners in France and the United Kingdom to gather broad input and advance the research efforts. The delegation held meetings with several CCICED partner institutions, including Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), Children's Investment Fund Foundation, Chatham House (the Royal Institute of International Affairs), and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). In addition, the team engaged in discussions with prominent experts such as Mr. Martin Lees, Chair of the OECD-IIASA Partnership for Systemic Approaches, former CCICED Member, and former Secretary-General of the Club of Rome, to exchange views on key issues related to the research topics.

The working groups went to partner institutions for research and exchange