On the afternoon of July 2, 2022, theInternational Workshop of "Green Leads Digital, Digital Enables Green", co-hosted by BNUBS and the Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development of the University of Groningen, went on smoothly.Academics and students from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing University of Technology, University of Groningen, University of Birmingham and other institutions attended the conference.

The opening ceremony was presided over by Pan Jiahua, director of the Institute of Ecological Civilization of Beijing University of Technology and a member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.Klaus Hubacek, tenured professor at the University of Groningen and Fellow of the British Academy of Social Sciences, gave the opening lecture on "Carbon budgets, Green Growth and the Digital Economy".

Figure 1 Main participant

Professor Klaus shows the relationship between cumulative carbon dioxide emissions since 1870 and rising temperatures, and expresses his views on thesustainability of green growth in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.Professor Klaus then analyzed the potential of current digital technologies to impact emissions reduction, but also suggested that the digital divide could further increase social inequality, which is an issue we need to actively address.

This was followed by the speeches of ShanYuli, Associate professor at the University of Birmingham and research fellow at the Institute for Energy and Sustainable Development at the University of Groningen and professor Mao Xianqiang,College of Environment, Beijing Normal University.Professor CaiHongbo, Associate Dean of BNUBS, served as the moderator.

Associate Professor Shan Yuli presented a report on emissions accounts, peaks and drivers in China. He sees cities as central to achieving climate change mitigation, but data availability for cities is limited.CEADs has therefore developed a framework for emissions accounting to produce emission inventories for Chinese cities with different data availability. He also describes in detail the CEADs database and the research surrounding the emissions account.

Professor Mao Xianqiang made a speech on China's digital empowerment low-carbon development, introduced the general situation of the development of China's digital economy, and conducted a detailed analysis of the relationship between digital economy and low-carbon development.Professor Mao believes that the digital economy has great potential in helping to reduce emissions. Accelerating the construction of new green and low-carbon data centers will be a key point in the future, and the supply and use of green energy also need to be further strengthened.

Picture 2 Group photo of participants

The second half of the conference was moderated by Professor Sun Yanhong, director of the Economics Department of the Institute of European Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.GuanYuru, YanJin and LiYanxian from the University of Groningen, and Liu Lin andTong Shun from BNUBS each shared recent work. Topics covered include energy price volatility, greenhouse gas emission tracking, smart city construction, and the establishment of China's free Trade zone.Academicians Pan Jiahua and Klaus Hubacek commented on the report respectively. Finally, the conference was concluded by Zhong Chao from Beijing Normal University.

Provided by Discipline Research Office

Edited by Xu Yue

Reviewed byCaiHongbo