2014 Beijing Humboldt Forum in Cooperation with ZEW

The Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation jointly organised this year's Beijing Humboldt Forum on September 19-21, 2014, in the Chinese capital. Within the framework of the forum, ZEW researchers presented their latest findings concerning Chinese climate policy as well as the development of consumption intensity of CO2 and resources. The forum, which took place under the heading "Cultural Heritage and Green Economy – Technological Innovation, Industrial Growth & Green Mobility", aimed to strengthen the research cooperation between Germany and China in these fields.

Apart from having been involved in the general organisation of the Humboldt Forum, ZEW also coordinated a scientific session. ZEW researchers Dr. Sebastian Voigt and Frank Pothen from the Research Department "Environmental and Resource Economics, Environmental Management" gave a lecture on the development of various drivers of CO₂ and resources consumption intensity. In a plenary lecture, Sebastian Voigt furthermore discussed the design and development of a national emissions trading scheme in China. Prof. Dr. Xiaohu Feng of the UIBE already visited ZEW in summer 2014 to prepare the event and strengthen the cooperation between ZEW and UIBE.

Diverse presentations on sustainable growth, innovations, and culture

About 120 participants from science and politics attended the event, which featured insightful presentations on China's potential for sustainable growth against the backdrop of a rapid economic and most of all industrial growth combined with an increasing environmental pollution. Key topics of the presentations included technological innovations, green mobility, China's path to market economy as well as cultural aspects affecting the cooperation between China and the western world. Further co-organisers were the Institute of Global Low-carbon Economy, the Fraunhofer Society, the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), and the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria.

Forum for interdisciplinary dialogue

A key characteristic of the event was that it promoted interdisciplinary dialogue, which is urgently needed to determine and examine the entire scope of the future challenges of a green and sustainable civilisation. High-profile speakers from different disciplines presented various perspectives on the topics under discussion and considered a variety of approaches to meeting the challenges. In keeping with the objective of interdisciplinary and international networking at the Humboldt Forum, valuable contributions to the debate were made by economists, philologists, physicists, engineers and further academics.