Leadership training on environmental and climate issues

Project description

Project or programme title: Leadership training on environmental and climate issues
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB)
Country: Peoples Republic of China
Lead executing agency: China Training Centre for Senior Personnel Management Officials (CTCSPMO); National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC)
Overall term: 2012 to 2016

Context

China faces substantial challenges in terms of environmental and climate protection. Its rapid economic growth has caused environmental damage and a shortage of natural resources. As the world’s biggest emitter of CO2 China’s leadership accepts its responsibility, and it has made commitments at international level to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

In order to cope with these challenges, the Chinese government wants to establish an energy-efficient and low-carbon economic structure that conserves resources, while at the same time developing an environmentally conscious society (12th Five-Year Plan, 2011 – 2015). To build up a low-carbon, green economy, the country is intensifying national pilot programmes and implementing a new climate policy (China’s Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate Change 2013). Furthermore, in 2015 a new Environmental Law came into effect. However, especially at the local level, the public administration remains underprepared to achieve this ecological transformation to the full extent, or to apply the necessary regulations and standards for environmental and climate protection.

Objective

The senior management of the party, administration and government are better prepared to achieve the environmental and climate goals stated in the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) and beyond.

Approach

In addition to its immediate partners, the project also involves other institutions in its activities, including the Chinese Academy of Governance (CAG), the Office of the Leading Group for Finance and Economics (OLGFE) and other departments of NDRC. The project consists of three modules which currently address the following topics:

  1. Green leadership and the introduction of a green economy
  2. Climate, air and water protection; ecologically sustainable structural transformation in the coal-mining city of Pingdingshan
  3. Green public procurement, strategic environmental assessments, public participation

Six measures are common to all the modules:

  1. Training and advisory measures in China for the main partners and the corresponding pilot administrations
  2. Training measures in Germany for between six and 15 participants
  3.  Follow-up workshops to compile reports on the training measures for the state council, province and city governments, or Party bodies
  4. Advisory services for the partner institution on selected environment and climate topics, in accordance with the 12th Five-Year Plan; advice on curriculum development and the use of modern methods, such as action learning
  5. Support for the wider application of lessons learned and knowledge acquired within the pilot regions; monitoring through random testsRefresher courses and advanced courses on new goals, topics, instruments etc. in the area of environment and climate

The project uses these capacity building measures to strengthen the participating institutions and senior managers from central government and the provincial and municipal levels. Overall, the project is contributing to China’s efforts to achieve the goals contained in its environmental and social agenda up to 2020. These include creating a moderately well-off society by 2020, building up an ecological civilisation and promoting the conservation of resources and nature as well as the protection of the environment and the climate, through implementing a circular economy and low-carbon development, and an ecologically sound industrial policy.

Results achieved so far

  • Advice on green leadership and the Introduction of a green economy
    In cooperation with the China Training Centre (CTC), it has been possible to improve environmental protection and promote the establishment of a green economy, especially in Jiangxi province. Green leadership has been enhanced in general, through increased transparency between departments and within the hierarchies of the provincial government. The concepts developed together with the CTC in Jiangxi have a pilot function, and they have already been successfully transferred to other provinces, for example Pingdingshan in Henan province.
  • Advice on climate, air and water protection, and on ecologically sustainable structural changes in the coal-mining city of Pingdingshan
    In the comparatively short duration of the cooperation so far, the project’s advice on climate, air and water protection, and ecologically sustainable urban development against a backdrop of structural change, has produced a high degree of awareness of these issues among the senior managers in the city administration. In the medium term, this will serve to improve production processes and will have a positive effect on resource efficiency – i.e. on the consumption of energy, coal, water and materials.
  • Advice on green public procurement and public participation
    This module promotes product-related climate protection and increases the demand for products that are efficient in terms of energy and resources. New regulations have now been introduced on green procurement and for public participation. Public participation in environmental issues, especially with regard to large-scale projects, is expected to increase the use of modern, environmentally sustainable technologies.

In addition to these results, the project is supporting the preparation of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), insofar as it refers to ecologically sustainable development.