September 2005
China and EU Partnership on Tackling Climate Change
China and the EU have a history of close cooperation on environment and energy issues including climate change. Both are parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol.
Following the 8th China-EU summit at the beginning of the month, the EU has agreed to form a partnership to tackle the problem of climate change. The partnership aims to promote energy efficiency, clean energy sources, conservation and the development and demonstration of "zero emissions" clean coal technologies based on carbon dioxide capture and storage. It demonstrates the EU's determination to tackle climate change at the highest level and in concrete ways, as recently announced at the G8 summit in Gleneagles.
China has set itself the goal of halving its energy intensity by 2020. The EU has pledged to reduce its energy consumption by 20% over the same period of time by increasing energy efficiency. These efforts will be strengthened through the involvement of the private sector, bilateral and multilateral financial instruments and export agencies, and the promotion of joint ventures and public-private partnerships.
The partnership will strengthen EU-China cooperation on the Kyoto’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). It foresees a dialogue on the further development of this mechanism post 2012 in combination with an exchange in information and experience on the use of market-based mechanisms such as the EU emissions trading scheme.
The declaration on climate change also states that both China and the EU will work on the following areas of for technical cooperation:
- Hydrogen and fuel cells, methane recovery and use, power generation and transmission.
- Strengthening cooperation and adaptation to the impacts of climate change through
- Research and analysis on adverse effects of and vulnerabilities to climate change
- Research and development on technologies and measures to adapt to climate change.
Both China and the EU will meet again from 28th November to 9th December in Montreal, Canada, to discuss the implementation of existing obligations and develop further steps to address the global challenge that climate change represents.
If you would like to discuss opportunities to explore CDM's in China or want more information on reducing energy consumption, contact Nersi Salehi on 024 7632 3260.
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