BEIJING, 10 September 2025 (TATOLI) – The 2025 Global Energy Interconnection Conference is underway in Beijing from September 8 to 10, where world leaders are calling for a global shift to clean energy. The event is organized by the Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization.
Held under the theme “Global Energy Interconnection: Meeting Worldwide Electricity Demand Through Clean and Green Solutions,” the conference has brought together 1,000 participants from 100 countries to strengthen international cooperation and advance efforts toward a sustainable energy transition.
In his opening speech, Chinese Vice President Han Zheng presented a four-point plan for global energy development. His proposals focused on promoting a green and low-carbon transition, encouraging technological innovation to drive sustainable development, and deepening cooperation in resources and industrial capacity.
Han called for stronger collaboration in renewable power generation, grid interconnection, and smart energy systems. He also emphasized the importance of fully implementing the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement.
He noted that the global energy sector is undergoing major transformations and highlighted China’s longstanding commitment to advancing green development.
The vice president also stressed the need to enhance cooperation on energy access, particularly to help developing countries strengthen their capacity to ensure energy security for their populations.
Meanwhile, UNDP Resident Representative in China, Beate Trankmann, underscored the importance of fair and inclusive green energy financing in her remarks at the conference.
Trankmann pointed out that while global investment in clean energy has reached record levels, the majority of it remains concentrated in developed economies.
“Global investment in clean energy has reached record highs. Yet the distribution remains very uneven: excluding China, less than 15% of clean-energy finance flows to developing economies overall and roughly only 2% to Africa,” Trankmann said.
She stressed that closing the investment gap with equitable and sustainable solutions is essential for a truly global and just energy transition.
Trankmann highlighted three key areas where finance meets fairness:
1) Green hydrogen for hard-to-abate sectors – with inclusion by design.
UNDP is working with Chinese and regional partners to connect innovation ecosystems with policy and finance–so green hydrogen creates decent jobs, supports SMEs, and opens opportunities for women and young professionals across the value chain.
2) Interconnected power and clean mobility – projects that improve lives now.
Investments in flexible grids, storage, and e-mobility deliver cleaner air and healthier cities while enabling renewables at scale – exactly the kind of outcomes this conference champions.
3) Capital at scale for access and just transition – fit for country realities.
From concessional windows to results-based instruments, we need structures that reflect local risk profiles and debt contexts, expanding access without overburdening public balance sheets.
Trankmann concluded that speed without fairness will not succeed. When financing aligns climate ambition with human development –energy for clinics and schools, affordable mobility, cleaner air –public trust grows, and investment follows.
“Our goal today is to match ambition with capital, and projects with the policies and partnerships that make them bankable, scalable, and just,” she said.
She reiterated UNDP’s commitment to connecting experience with innovation, policy with finance, and national plans with regional cooperation to bridge the financing gap and promote a healthier, more sustainable planet.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Rafael Ximenes de A. Belo
