Joint Statement by Mr Ian Pearson MP, Minister of State, and Mr Du Ying, Vice Minister, National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China - 26 October 2006
Statement made as a result of the UK-China Sustainable Development Dialogue Ministerial Meeting in Beijing
We are here today to celebrate a very special anniversary. It has been a year since China and the UK entered into a pioneering Sustainable Development Dialogue to promote closer cooperation and exchanges on issues including environmental protection, urban and rural development, and sustainable consumption and production. That year has culminated in agreements about how we will manage the dialogue, and what we will focus on.
This Dialogue is rooted in our common interest to do all we can to make the world work sustainably. In a context of growing global interdependency, this can only happen if we work together to learn from each other’s experiences from tackling the environmental and social challenges at home and achieve our common goal of sustainable development.
We acknowledge that we all have to live within the earth’s capacity. Currently, developed countries are using up more resources than the planet can regenerate. Recognising also the needs for growth and development, the UK and China have much to share about policies that will help to take the world towards One Planet Living. The Dialogue provides the strong framework for that.
The vision we want to share with you today is that of a constructive and broad-based partnership between China and the UK on sustainable development, bringing together all interested parts of government, citizens, civil society, academia, and business, and strengthening and broadening Sino-UK cooperation and learning on sustainable development.
Yesterday we held very fruitful discussions to exchange views on our respective SD challenges and achievements, and to agree on the structure and focus of the UK-China SDD.
We have agreed that in the year ahead we will focus on four thematic areas in the Dialogue and collaboration, namely:
- Sustainable Consumption and Production
- Natural Resource Management
- Capacity building for SD
- Urban development
These are areas in which our common interests are most evident and where the potential for exchange and mutual learning is strongest.
We recognized that the sustainable development challenge calls for a genuinely cross-ministerial response. Accordingly, cross-governmental frameworks have been established to support this Dialogue in both China and the UK. We decided that the best way to take the dialogue forward is through a three-tiered management structure:
- At the highest level, annual ministerial talks will be held, to take stock of progress and set the broad vision for the SDD.
- A Steering Group comprising Senior Officials on both sides has been established to provide oversight and guide the Dialogue’s progress. This Steering Group will convene at least twice a year.
- Cross-agency Working Groups comprising multiple departments, which will develop activities under each of the thematic areas.
We are delighted in particular to note the shared intention of collaboration on integrated sustainable forestry management between the UK and China, in the field of natural resources management. Both sides will also promote the joint work on Sustainable Consumption and Production, and will involve the NDRC, China’s State Environmental Protection Agency, and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology. We have also organised a virtual forum on capacity building for Sustainable Development. We have initiated exchanges on the theme of urban development, with emphasis on systems for sustainable urban management and planning.
Through these mechanisms we can look forward to forging stronger links between our sister organizations, so providing an opportunity for Chinese officials to see the UK system in action and for UK officials to learn from their Chinese counterparts.
As concrete examples, we have launched a package of collaborative projects, including a project on soil nitrogen management to improve fertiliser use; support to a circular economy pilot; training for Sustainable Development; and a project to build capacity in chemicals’ management through the existing UK-China Chemicals Working Group.
Over the coming year therefore, there will be many interactions at many different levels between organisations in China and the UK, each of which will contribute to the Dialogue. When we meet next year, we will use the findings from the individual projects and exchanges to draw conclusions and determine future areas of work for our collaboration.
Page published: 1 November 2006