China and the European Union vowed Thursday to ‘step up’ action on climate change, according to a joint statement released as Beijing hosted the bloc’s leaders for a one-day summit.
The warming planet is historically an area of convergence between Brussels and Beijing, with both sides signalling a willingness to cooperate on combating climate change.
The EU aims to become carbon neutral by 2050 while China — the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter — has pledged to do so by 2060.
Chinese and European leaders ‘reiterate that in the fluid and turbulent international situation today, it is crucial that all countries step up efforts to address climate change’, the joint statement said.
China and the EU agreed on enhancing bilateral cooperation in areas such as ‘energy transition, adaptation, methane emissions management and control, carbon markets and green and low-carbon technologies’.
They will also accelerate global renewable energy deployment and facilitate access to green technology, the statement added.
This joint declaration ‘sends an important signal that climate cooperation can still rise above geopolitical tensions’, said David Waskow from the World Resources Institute.
Stronger climate leadership from the two major emitters is critically needed to rekindle global momentum after the United States announced its withdrawal from the 2015 Paris accord to curb greenhouse gas emissions, he added.
And while this agreement between China and the EU is a positive sign, both sides ‘need to get practical’, said Yao Zhe, a global policy adviser at Greenpeace East Asia.
‘Both should demonstrate greater ambition in reducing emissions and transitioning away from fossil fuels,’ she added.
A top EU climate official told the Financial Times this month that Brussels would not sign a joint climate declaration with China until Beijing adopted bolder emissions reduction goals.
An editorial in the state-backed China Daily newspaper then accused the EU of playing the ‘climate card’ to get China to change its position on the Ukraine war.
