Question Period Note: Minister Guilbeault’s attendance at the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED)

Minister Guilbeault’s attendance at the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED)

• Addressing the triple crises of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss requires China's engagement.
• The CCICED brings together expertise from UN Agencies, civil society, academia, as well as countries such as Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the U.S. to develop science-based recommendations.
• I had direct conversations about where China could do more, such as on methane reduction and implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework agreed to in Montreal.

•Due to recent strained diplomatic relations, the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) is one of the few venues where Canada has significant engagement with China on climate and environment. The CCICED is an international research and advisory body composed of international and Chinese experts that allows the international community to engage in policy discussions with China by providing research-driven policy recommendations that are presented directly to the Chinese government. Over the years, many of the CCICED policy recommendations have been implemented in priority areas for Canada such as climate change, plastic pollution and biodiversity.

•Canada helped establish CCICED in 1992 and, since its inception, has been the lead international donor, which allows Canada to hold the functions of International Executive Vice Chair (ECC Minister Steven Guilbeault), International Chief Advisor (Scott Vaughan), and to host the international secretariat, currently housed within Canada’s International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).

•Canada has committed $8M over five years for the Winnipeg-based IISD to support CCICED's international secretariat starting in fiscal year 2022/23 ($1.6M yearly). This is the same as its contribution during the previous five-year period.

•A range of international representatives serve in various capacities on CCICED, including from the UN system, civil society, academia and countries such as Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and the U.S. Recently, since travel resumed following the lifting of COVID-19 travel restrictions, ministerial-level representatives from the United States, France, Germany and other EU countries, and the EU Commission have also travelled to China to discuss environmental and other priorities.

• From August 28 to 31, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, traveled to Beijing, China to attend the CCICED annual meetings. While there he hosted roundtable discussions with all of the international participants to CCICED and with representatives for the private sector and environmental NGOs, and met with China’s Minister of Ecology and the Environment, China’s Special Climate Envoy, the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, California’s Secretary of Natural Resources, and the President of the World Resources Institute to drive cooperation and ambition on a number of environmental issues, including the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) announced in Vancouver at the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Former Canadian Ministers Peter Kent (2014) and Catherine McKenna (2016) have attended past CCICED Annual General Meetings.

• In line with Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy, Minister Guilbeault's participation at the CCICED meetings is an example of working with China where we need their efforts to address the global environmental crises.

No solutions will be possible without engaging China on environmental and climate change issues.