Shanghai dialogue on pressing energy and climate issues 2025

What this event is about

As the global landscape of the energy transition and climate governance continues to evolve, 2025 is a crucial year for aligning innovation, policy and international cooperation. Rapid advances in digitalisation and artificial intelligence are reshaping how the world approaches energy systems, climate policy and industrial transformation. In this changing context, the 2025 Shanghai Dialogue will convene experts and stakeholders from China, Europe, North America and Southeast Asia to explore how technological progress, inclusive policymaking and cross-border collaboration can drive a more resilient and equitable global energy future.

This year’s event highlighted how global energy and climate governance can adapt to a new era defined by complex interdependencies and accelerating change. Discussions examined the implications of artificial intelligence for the global energy transition, the transformation of power systems to accommodate high shares of renewable energy and the evolving role of distributed renewable energy in shaping local and national pathways. Participants have also consider how to manage the social and economic dimensions of coal region transitions. Equally prominent in the discussions was how to accelerate industrial decarbonisation across key sectors such as chemicals and streel, including via strategic partnerships on green iron trade. These conversations offered forward-looking insights into how innovation and cooperation can reinforce one another in pursuit of global climate action.

The 2025 Shanghai Dialogue was be held as a side event of the CIIE 2025 International Carbon Neutrality and Green Investment Conference. It is co-organised by Agora Energy China, Agora Energiewende, Tongji University, the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS) and the Energy Investment Professional Committee of the Investment Association of China (IAC), with Chinese-English simultaneous interpretation and recordings available after the event.

Programme 6 & 7 November
On the agenda are the following three sessions:

• Session 1 (6 November): Global power systems amid profound transformation
  with Chinese, North-American, Southeast-Asian and European perspectives
• Session 2 (6 November): Accelerating the coal region transition from national to local levels – the 6^th multilateral dialogue on just energy transition
• Session 3 (7 November): Industrial decarbonisation

You can find the programme for the one a half days in the download area below.

Livestream
The livestream by Xinhua Agency (in Chinese and English) can be reviewed here.