Changed conditions for R&I cooperation with China on sustainable urban development

However, the result has been meager because there has been a lack of a common goal and consensus regarding what research and innovation for urban transformation can contribute. But the conditions for common approaches improved with China's climate goals from 2019. The country's provinces and cities must now set objective and draw up action plans. On a positive note, Chinese interest has increased in the EU's research and innovation for the transition to climate-neutral cities. In addition, climate and biodiversity are top priority topics when China participates in the extensive EU program Horisont Europa.

Still, above all, the Chinese challenges are extensive and complex. Action plans and proven system solutions are missing, as are methods for measurement and follow-up. At the individual level, it is difficult to change behaviour, especially when there is also a lack of sustainable and fossil-free alternatives to change lifestyle and consumption patterns. For successful results, it is necessary that the EU internally coordinates cooperation with China more purposefully and efficiently. Different approaches and handling of data availability and data sharing, as well as issues of ethics and security, also need to be resolved.

Looking back – R&D cooperation high political priority but with meager results

To promote growth, investments and structural change, research on urbanization has long been a priority area at EU-Kina-samarbetet, and has had political support at the highest level from both parties. The most important programs are described below.

When the EU-Kina urbanization partnership was launched in 2012, collaboration in research and innovation was a highly ranked area. Since then, 14 project in sustainable urban development have been implemented within the framework of the EU's 7th Framework Program (FP 7). China's participation was financed by EU funds.

During the framework program Horizon 2020, which ran between 2014 and 2020, special so-called flagship initiatives were established within research and innovation cooperation, which required funding from all participants, incl. from the Chinese counterpart, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST). China and the EU agreed to cooperate on four themes: 1) sustainable development and urban planning, 2) nature-based solutions for cities (i.e. measures that conserve, manage and develop ecosystem services), 3) climate and environment-friendly passenger and freight transport in urban environments and 4) sustainable energy solutions for cities. Despite high expectations and significant financial resources, only five funding from both sides during 2018 - 2020, with limited results project.

For cooperation between China and individual states within the EU and associated countries, two joint calls were launched between JPI Urban Europe and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), China's basic research funder. The first was a pilot call in 2018 on sustainable and livable cities. The second, from 2022, was about sustainable urban logistics in the era of digitization and strengthening climate-neutral mobility. Sweden, represented by the Swedish Energy Agency, actively participated in the tenders.

In addition to practical difficulties in arranging synchronized procedures for joint announcements and evaluations of applications, there were obstacles to a deeper research collaboration. Among other things, there was a lack of both a common target image and consensus for what sustainability for urban development actually means. The focus on the Chinese side was more on smart, in the sense of collecting data and developing digital solutions to facilitate traffic situations and services for the city administration, than sustainable. But there was a gradual change as a results of European cooperation. There was also a lack of incentive for China's local actors and authorities to engage in research- and innovation cooperation with Europe. Instead, they were more interested in attracting foreign investments and business establishment with urban development projects.

The current situation – Clearer climate focus improves the conditions for cooperation

China's top political leadership decided in 2019 that the country must reach the highest emission level for carbon dioxide before the year 2030. After that, emissions must decrease and China must reach carbon dioxide neutrality before 2060. The EU's objective is to reach climate neutrality by the year 2050. China's so-called dual carbon goals set a clear climate focus for the local level. Provinces and cities thus needed to draw up their own objective and action plans for the years 2021 – 2025 according to an overall framework (see figure 1 below). eligibility requirements on action plans at the consumer level is a big step for China's climate work, as well as setting eligibility requirements on the financial sector and in governance, i.e. with a focus on both leadership and cross-sectoral coordination within city administration, as well as regulations for the interaction between citizens, politicians and city management and administration.

The requirements for objective and action plans for the local level have previously led to doubts and direct opposition in large geographical areas. But now several cities have shown a higher level of ambition. Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Suzhou and Jinan with several aims to reach their respective emission peaks as early as 2025. However, despite the increased political commitment of these cities, it is an extensive and complex challenge to practically implement measures that lead to the achievement of the goals. For the cities' management, there are challenges in undeveloped regulations to achieve climate change. Clear action plans and proven system solutions are still missing. Data availability is insufficient, as are methods for measurement and follow-up as well as impact analyzes for work on how measures are implemented. Deficiencies are also found in coordination and cooperation between different units and sectors within the cities.

Figure 1. Focus areas for China's transition towards the highest carbon dioxide peak and carbon dioxide neutrality

For technology and innovation development, both financial and organizational supportis needed. There is also a lack of experience and capacity for large-scale demonstration projects. In addition, the market has difficulty accepting climate policy measures. Nor do individual citizens have understanding and consensus for the climate goals, and there is a lack of opportunities for individuals to choose climate-adapted alternatives. But many of China's challenges can be found in most of the world's countries, not least when it comes to how difficult and slow it is to change citizens' behaviors.

Despite the challenges, with China's new climate goals, there is a new mutual basis for research collaboration. A comparison of public research and innovation efforts related to sustainable urban development, for example, shows both common interests and different priorities. Through its framework programs, the EU has invested more resources in climate-related areas than China, especially in the areas of energy efficiency in cities, urban agriculture and urban planning, and governance. Behavioral research is an exception where China's public funding has been higher than corresponding programme within the EU. However, there are clear signs of increased competitive pressure between the EU and China in areas such as green technology for passenger and freight transport and sustainable transport solutions. Here, the EU has traditionally been the leader and European technology development has been more important to China than the other way around. Med Kinas advances in, for example, research and development of batteries and electric vehicles, the collaboration becomes more mutual and balanced.

The research collaboration between the EU and China related to sustainable urban development and climate can also be measured in the number of joint publications. These are at a relatively high level compared to China's cooperation with other country groups within Asia and America. However, cooperation is strongly concentrated in a few EU member states, such as Germany, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Italy. But research cooperation between the EU and China lags significantly behind the US, where the US had 74 percent more joint publications with China. This despite the fact that the EU had 3.8 times more own publications in the climate area related to sustainable urban development than the USA.

A comparison of the most important patents between North America, East Asia and the EU shows that the innovation dynamics in areas related to sustainable and smart cities is clearly stronger in East Asia. This means more patent applications with more qualitative innovations. Countries such as China, South Korea and Japan have in the last decade become leaders, in relation to their competitors in North America and the EU, in almost every single area, for example in energy, transport, waste management and digital solutions for urban development.

The way forward – climate-neutral and smart cities as a possible source of inspiration for China's participation in Horisont Europa

Climate and biodiversity became two new flagship initiatives for China's participation under the EU's Horisont Europa framework program, which runs from 2021-2027. Att Kina and the EU have chosen to cooperate in these important areas, opening new perspectives for how research and innovation cooperation can be further developed. Considering that activities in cities contribute 70 percent globally and 85 percent in China respectively of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, China's participation is important to achieve practical results in the effort to slow global warming. Now the Cities Mission EU program has also moved from a definition phase to a more action- and action-oriented phase, when a hundred European cities apply to become climate neutral in 2030. At both national and local level in China there is great interest in these cities, which have been selected to show fast paths for green transition. In particular, the interest concerns what research and innovation can contribute.

But in order to be able to develop the EU-Kina project that creates climate-neutral and smart cities within Cities Mission, both higher ambition and a pace of change are required. New conditions are needed for cooperation. For example, the new elements need governance and behavioral changes in both production and consumption, seen as key prerequisites with the opportunity to drive innovation and give us sustainable cities.

If the global community is to succeed in reorganizing society so that the earth's temperature increase is limited, it is required that the entire society down to the individual citizen mobilizes. Adjustment and development processes need to be carried out both at the overall level of society and within different sectors, and measures must be coordinated. At the same time, cooperation between China and various individual groups of member states needs to increase to reach results. However, no single member state alone will have sufficient political influence and capacity to implement and manage the scale and complexity of China cooperation.

Interest in, and the importance of, digital solutions and data-driven innovations for climate change will continue to increase both in the EU and in China. It also means new regulatory and practical challenges. In that context, differences in approach and management of data availability and data sharing, ethics and security, not least related to international cooperation, need to be handled with clarity and transparency.

Source

This policy brief summarizes the main messages from a background report "From Smart and Sustainable to Carbon-Neutral and Smart? - Retrospective, state-of-play and prospective of EU-China urbanization dialogue and cooperation". The report was prepared by an informal working group for sustainable urban development, which consisted of research- and the innovation councils, stationed in China. The work of the working group during 2019 – 2021 was led by Sweden, with support from the EU delegation in Beijing and the participation of Denmark, Finland, Portugal, Germany, the Netherlands and Norway.