Though the United States is planning to leave the landmark Paris climate agreement, the door for Sino-US climate cooperation remains open, said Kevin Rudd, the former Australian prime minister.

BEIJING, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- China is on fast track in its transition to a green economy as the country is taking concrete and innovative steps to that end, according to an environmental expert.

China's efforts to combat climate change have yielded fruitful results and its leadership will be vital in the future as countries join hands to tackle the urgent problem, government officials and industry leaders said on Wednesday.

Eric Heitz, CEO of the Energy Foundation, said China's launch of a carbon market is a milestone that will help tackle pollution and climate change and suggested that in the future, more sectors should be covered in addition to power generation.

In late April, 2020, Beijing Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau and Energy Foundation China (EF China) reviewed their cooperation in 2019 and kicked off new research programs for 2020, with attendees including Chen Tian, bureau chief; Li Xiaohua, deputy bureau chief; and Zou Ji, CEO and President of EF China.

In late March 2020, Energy Foundation China, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, the Institutes of Science and Development of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, European Climate Foundation, Third Generation Environmentalism (E3G) and the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) Secretariat organized an online expert meeting for the council’s Special Policy Study (SPS) on global climate governance and China’s role. More than 70 economics and climate experts from China, the UK, and European countries discussed what the current global responses to the Covid-19 pandemic and economic downturn are, how to shape a new growth story through green stimulus packages, and how to coordinate a low carbon stimulus with China’s near-, medium-, and long-term plans to promote high-quality development and modernization.

Cole Wilbur, co-author of Giving With Confidence: A Guide to Savvy Philanthropy, is a veteran grantmaker for philanthropic organizations. During his 23 years at the helm of The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, he helped grow the organization “from a small, obscure West Coast foundation to one of the 10 largest foundations in the United States”

Energy Foundation China released the following declaration as we celebrated our 20 years in China with a number of forums and dialogues in November 2019, sending a strong signal of the value of China-U.S. engagement.

On March 26th of 2020, organized by Energy Foundation China (EF China) and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), International Technical Supporting Platform for City Emission Peaking (ISP-CEP) held the first online workshop of “Promoting Individual Low-carbon Consumption”. Representatives and experts from China National Textile and Apparel Council, Didi, Meituan-Dianping, Carbonstop, ClimateWorks Foundation and 11 members organization of ISP-CEP jointly attended the workshop.

In January 2020, a 2050 clean air project led by Professor Zhang Qiang from Tsinghua University and supported by Energy Foundation China convened its final expert workshop in Beijing. This project aimed to propose medium- and long-term air quality goals for China and explore the strategy and pathway for the co-control of air quality and climate change issues.

In September, Energy Foundation China and grantee the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning (CAEP) held a seminar on the air pollution prevention and control in the greater Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (or Jing-Jin-Ji) region and the Fenhe-Weihe plains, areas that have suffered suffocating smog in China.

In 2020, with support from Energy Foundation China, Tsinghua University completed this research on how to achieve air quality standards and carbon emission peaking with a single set of policies at the city level.

In early 2020, Carbonstop released this report that estimated low carbon consumption potential of residents living in Chinese cities with a population of more than 10 million.

In 2018, Energy Foundation China and the Institute for Sustainable Communities funded the China Quality Certification Center to provide key technical assistance for pilot projects of near-zero carbon emissions zones in Guangdong.

This report was compiled by Wang Qingyi, co-founder of the China Energy Research Society, with assistance from the Innovative Green Development Program and support from Energy Foundation China.