China’s Green Transition: Analysis and Inside Stories

China holds the key to the future of our planet's climate. It is at once the world's largest emitter and its largest investor in renewable energy — a place where coal still matters even as solar, wind, and electric vehicles grow at a pace no other country can match. How should we make sense of these contradictions, and what do they mean for the world's chances of tackling the climate crisis?

In this evening's keynote, Berthold Kuhn takes us inside China's ecological transformation. Drawing on field research across Xiamen, Beijing, Yunnan, and Hainan, and on years of interviews and on-the-ground observation, he shows that China's green transition is not a single master plan handed down from above. It is a messy, contested, and surprising process — full of inside stories you rarely read in the headlines.

The talk travels across the frontlines of change: the transformation of the energy system and the shifting role of coal; the long fight against air, water, and soil pollution; efforts to protect biodiversity and the oceans, from mangroves and seagrass meadows to China's role in maritime climate policy; the push toward a circular economy amid a mounting plastics crisis; and the bigger geopolitical picture — green finance, the Belt and Road, and the prospects for cooperation between Europe, China, and Germany despite growing rivalry.

After the keynote, Barbara Pongratz (Germanwatch) and a second panelist share their perspectives, connecting China's path to European climate policy and the realities of cooperating with — and learning from — China. A moderated discussion and audience Q&A bring the evening to a close.