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Carbon-neutrality: How can the EU and China co-operate to lead global climate change efforts?

28-01-2021

Carbon-neutrality:  How can the EU and China co-operate to lead global climate change efforts?

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In March 2020, European Commission President von der Leyen unveiled a ‘climate law’ to commit the 27-nation EU to reducing its net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. Six months later, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged that China would become carbon neutral by 2060. Both announcements were seen as key in the global fight against climate change.

Climate change can only be tackled effectively with a global approach in a multilateral framework. The European Union is responsible for only 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions. China is the largest emitter in the world and has an economy that is still heavily dependent on high carbon energy sources. The European Commission has remarked that setting an ambitious objective is important. However, what matters is detailing how targets will be achieved and delivering results.

There are immense opportunities linked to the new green technologies where China has taken a leading position. Today, Chinese firms produce more than 70% of the world’s solar modules, 69% of lithium-ion batteries and 45% of wind turbines. They also control much of the refining of minerals critical to clean energy, such as cobalt and lithium. Ambitious long-term goals should provide a further spur for the development of these technologies.

As two high-ambition regions sharing a determination to live up to the objectives of the Paris Agreement, the EU and China are natural coalition partners. The EU wants to work closely with China to deploy a 'climate diplomacy' to share efforts with the rest of the world, especially with the biggest emitters. Together, they could exert strong pressure on other emitters to increase their ambitions, notably in Asia, a continent accounting for more than half of global emissions, but also in the Americas. It could turn 2021 into a successful year for climate action, culminating in COP-26 in November in Glasgow.

Join this EURACTIV Virtual Conference to discuss how the EU and China can work together to drive the global fight against climate change.

Supported by:

Mission of China

Location

Online

Panellists

Elina Bardram, Acting Director, International, Mainstreaming & Policy Coordination, DG CLIMA, European Commission
Lídia Pereira, MEP, Member of the Delegation for relations with the People's Republic of China, Member of ECON, Substitute of ENVI, European Parliament
Alexandre Leitão, Portuguese Special Envoy for Climate Affairs
Edmond Alphandéry, Chairman of the Task Force on Carbon Pricing in Europe, former Finance Minister of France
Byford Tsang, Senior Policy Advisor, Climate Diplomacy team, E3G
He Jijiang, Executive Deputy Director, Institute of Energy Transition & Social Development, Tsinghua University, China
Fei Shengchao, Minister Counsellor, Mission of China to the EU

Moderator

Jennifer Baker, Journalist, EURACTIV

Schedule

09:30 – 09:35 Welcome
09:35 – 09:55 Panellists statements
09:55 – 11:05 Discussion and Q&A
11:05 – 11:15 Closing statements

Contact

Matea Krivanek
matea.krivanek@euractiv.com

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