Beijing/Brussels – As President of the European Council António Costa and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen travel to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang, Greenpeace EU and Greenpeace East Asia shared a proposal for a China-EU Climate Pact which outlines a way forward for both sides to lead on tackling climate change. It calls for the two to bolster global climate action and send a strong signal in the lead up to the multilateral process at COP30, including by collaborating on each presenting ambitious climate targets, slated to come out before October. 

Yuan Ying, China Chief Representative at Greenpeace East Asia, said: 

“Isolationism and climate denialism are posing a threat to our shared future and the global partnerships that we have established to protect that future. Strengthening environmental multilateralism remains a core interest for both China and Europe. The race for clean and green economies is not zero-sum competition. Both sides here recognize the necessity of collaboration to accelerate the decarbonization of energy, transport and economies. Cooperation is vital for China and Europe’s domestic energy transitions and mutual partners’ global transitions overseas. Today there remain more common interests than blocks in this bilateral relationship. China needs to manifest strong leadership in presenting robust climate targets, including scaling up renewable energy and phasing out coal. China’s collaboration with the EU should deliver global climate action and remind the rest of the world that multilateralism is alive and kicking.” 

Martin Kaiser, Executive Director at Greenpeace Germany, said: 

“The EU likes to see itself as a global leader when it comes to climate action. However, this principle of progress is under attack. And the EU’s current proposed climate target does not reflect leadership. More than ever, the persistent global climate crisis requires coordinated international action and the EU’s leadership in transitioning away from fossil fuels. More than ever, long-term economic welfare and security are deeply intertwined with rigid CO2-reduction. Unfortunately, we’ve seen a handful of nations seeking to evade climate obligations, and undermining global efforts to stop catastrophic warming. We are on the brink of squandering our chance to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. COP30 this year presents a key moment to keep this life-saving target within reach. This moment puts the relationship of two of the most important global markets, EU and China, at the center of the global climate effort in a year where progress on climate will be seen as a bellwether for global strength in the face of regressive unilateral attacks. Now is the moment!”

ENDS

Notes

Read the proposal here.

For media enquiries please contact:

Elena Boeck, Greenpeace Germany, (elena[email protected]), +49 176 1947457  

August Rick, Greenpeace East Asia, Beijing, [email protected], +86 175 10404599