On the morning of May 11, Mr. Erik Solheim, former Under-Secretary-General of UN and former Executive Director of UNEP, delivered a lecture on the topic of "Carbon Neutrality, Green Development and Global Economic Trends" as a guest speaker of the "Global & Comparative Law" series of courses at Peking University Law School. The lecture was hosted by Prof. Wang Jin of Peking University Law School, with Prof. Li Yanfang of Renmin University of China Law School, and Research Fellow Jin Zining, Research Fellow Gong Gu, and Assistant Professor Wu Kaijie of Peking University Law School as the speakers.

 

Before the start of the lecture, Prof. Guo Li, Dean of Peking University Law School, warmly welcomed Mr. Solheim's visit on behalf of the School. He said that Mr. Solheim, as a famous global leader in environment and development, has been strongly supporting China's ecological protection work and actively publicizing China's ecological civilization building achievements to the international community. He hoped to strengthen communication and cooperation with Mr. Solheim in the future to promote the development of the discipline of environmental law in Peking University Law School.

 

 

Dean Guo Li

 

This article presents the core points of the lecture in a transcript format.

 

Erik Solheim:

 

Xi Jinping, then Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, once put forward the famous "Two Mountains Theory" in Yucun, Anji County, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, which was a turning point in China's development, shifting from a crude economic growth model to a high-quality development and green development model. China is gradually playing a leading role in environmental protection in the world.

 

From a global perspective, since the Industrial Revolution, many countries have taken the path of polluting first and treating later, because that was the only way to go under the historical conditions at that time. With the development of renewable energy technologies and their significant price reductions, for the first time in human history it is possible to synergize economic development and environmental protection towards a win-win path.

 

I would like to share my views mainly on the four drivers of green development:

 

First, the leading role of Asia, especially China, in the world's environmental protection and green development. Currently China, the United States, India and the European Union are all turning to green development. Asian countries, especially China, are playing an increasingly important leading role. This is because, on the one hand, China realizes the importance of green development and sustainable development; on the other hand, China's industrial policy is conducive to green development. For example, China is vigorously developing new energy vehicles instead of internal combustion engine vehicles, and China's photovoltaic industry is a world leader. In addition, India also plays an important role in green development. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed to take the road of green and sustainable development, and vigorously develop green hydrogen, solar energy and other industries.

 

Second, the positive role of enterprises in green development. Enterprises play an important role in modern society, and even the economic volume of some enterprises exceeds that of a country, so it is very important for enterprises to play an active role in green development. In the United States, when Trump pushed to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, the U.S. business community still tends to take the road of green development. For example, Microsoft has proposed to be carbon neutral by 2023 and is going to compensate the company for its historical carbon emissions after the 1970s. Then again, the world's largest paper company, RGE, used to cause a lot of environmental problems, but now the company has made the decision to maintain its business without deforestation.

 

Third, the positive and negative roles of science and technology in driving green development. China is currently experiencing a boom in high-tech and green development technologies. So how does science and technology drive green development? Take Huawei as an example, Huawei uses high technology to improve the efficiency of solar power generation, promotes resource and energy conservation and utilization through artificial intelligence, and protects golden monkeys through artificial intelligence (AI can recognize the sound of golden monkeys. If the golden monkeys make horrible sounds, it can intervene artificially to protect them). Another example is the Yalong Pumped Storage Power Station of the National Energy Group, which constructs a new energy system that seamlessly utilizes the integration of wind, solar, and hydroelectric power generation through artificial intelligence. In addition, Inner Mongolia uses drones for reforestation in desert and desert areas. In the 21st century, the green revolution and the artificial intelligence revolution are crucial. Whether AI will replace or create more occupations is an open question. In the process of human development, new technologies will bring opportunities and power, and human beings should embrace them, but they should also pay attention to the new problems they bring.

 

Fourth, the positive and negative role of justice in promoting green development. In China, the entire court system, from the Supreme People's Court to local people's courts, is promoting green development. India also has green courts, and some judges in Europe and the United States are also actively promoting green development. Laws can either promote or hinder green development. Some judges in the United States may support green development, but the complexity of the judicial process from filing to closing a case and the amount of time it takes is essentially hindering green development. For example, a business in Quebec, Canada, was blocked from exporting clean hydroelectric power to the United States. The business needed a grid system to transport the electricity to Massachusetts, and the process of building the grid was protested by many. In fact, the reason for the protests was essentially the result of a push by environmental groups backed by fossil energy companies. There is a paradox here; the legal system of environmental protection and the judicial system, which were originally designed to protect the environment, are being used by fossil energy corporations to hinder the development of clean energy. There are many similar cases. As for the application of international law to promote green development, a distinction should first be made between problems that needed to be solved jointly by the international community and those that needed to be solved by countries themselves. Plastic pollution, for example, was a problem that should be solved by States themselves, while climate change and the international high seas were problems that required the joint efforts of national societies. In addition, the EU carbon tariff is a threat, not a mechanism that can be implemented.

 

I believe that China and the United States will not adopt each other's political systems, but they can live together peacefully. Great powers should respect each other's political systems and religious beliefs. The ancient Indian saying of more than 3,000 years ago that "the whole universe is one big family" still holds true today.

 

 

Mr. Erik Solheim

 

Speaker Profile:

 

Erik Solheim is former Under-Secretary-General of UN and former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, Convener of Advisory Committee of BRI International Green Development Coalition, CCICED Council Member. He graduated from the University of Oslo with a bachelor' s degree in history and sociology. From 2016 to 2018, he served as Under-Secretary - General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UN Environment Programme. He was the Chairman of the OECD Development Assistance Committee during 2013-2016; Minister of the Environment of Norway from 2007 to 2012; Norwegian Minister for International Development from 2005 to 2007.

 

Mr. Solheim is a renowned global leader in environment and development. He has always been a strong supporter of China’s ecological and environmental protection work and spared relentless effort in promoting China’s ecological civilization to the international community. During his tenure as the Executive Director of the UNEP, he has made outstanding contributions to the environment protection cause and has been awarded the “Champion of the Earth” award, the highest honor in the environmental protection sector.

 

To learn more about the event, please check out: https://www.law.pku.edu.cn/xwzx/xwdt/150031.htm

 

Translated by: Li Chaofu

 

Edited by: Wang Ding