- The purpose of the fifth EU-China high-level environment and climate conversation, which was held in Brussels on June 18, was to draw attention to Beijing’s worries about trade barriers about clean technology and to underscore the need for agreement on climate funding for COP29 in Baku to be successful.
- The fourth round of the discussions took place in Beijing in 2023, with Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang receiving a visit from EU climate czar Frans Timmermans. The journey cleared the path for the internationally acclaimed successful COP28 climate summit.
- Executive Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič, Timmermans’ successor, was just approved for a fourth term in the College of Commissioners and hopes to build on the accomplishments of the previous year.
- He reminded the Chinese delegation and the assembled elites in Brussels, “It is important that we don’t lose track of what matters… the survival of the human race and maintaining a habitable planet.”
- In the official readout, Šefčovič emphasized the customary term, “green should stay the color of [our] cooperation,” by using words from the past.
Tariffs are a major concern
- A prominent Chinese think-tanker made sure to emphasize Beijing’s discontent with the impending electric vehicle (EV) tariffs that the EU intends to impose, along with a clear link to global climate action, only hours before the high-level conference.
- At an event organized by the European Policy Centre (EPC), Huiyao Wang, head of the Center for China and Globalization, stated, “This new [EV] tariff, which I think is unnecessary, is maybe a bit of a double standard.”
- According to him, China would need to produce clean technology in a way that is “cost-effective, reliable, and efficient” to meet its climate commitments, which are behind schedule. Other countries would also need to buy these Chinese products.
- The conversation on Tuesday did not fix this issue. “There are areas where the EU and China do not see eye to eye,” according to the forum’s official summary.
Climate money
- Their encounter marks a turning point in the convoluted path that led from Dubai, the site of COP28, to Baku and COP29. The issue of climate financing is a major concern in addition to the new climate targets.
- The EU said that all parties agreed to support the Azerbaijani COP presidency’s emphasis on a new climate financing objective starting in 2025.
- Europe has been leading the charge in attempting to persuade Beijing to provide financial support for less developed nations who are finding it difficult to afford the highly invested decarbonization of their businesses.
- China, which has the second-biggest nominal GDP in the world, is exempt at the moment since, in 1992, it was designated as a “developing country.”
Source:
euractiv
