Green China

Warming ties can mend trust

By Li Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-10-04 10:52

Climate fight produces strong united front

BEIJING - Exchanges of information and the sharing of technology between China and the European Union (EU) will help tackle the common challenge of global warming,say officials and experts.

"I must say that EU-China cooperation on climate change issues is a very good example of how two sides can find common points on such a complex global issue," said Serge Abou, the EU ambassador to China.

Zhang Haibin, an international studies professor at Peking University, said the cooperation will help China and the EU get rid of "misperceptions" after last year's Copenhagen talks, which ended in a blame game after a legally-binding climate treaty was not reached.

Li Gao, a division director from the National Development and Reform Commission who is also a climate negotiator, said after the Copenhagen summit that the pessimism arose because rich countries failed to come up with profound reduction targets for greenhouse gas emissions.

But the agreement reached in the Copenhagen Accord for the launch of a $30 billion climate fund between 2010 and 2012 by rich countries was an opportunity to "mend the trust" between developed and developing countries, Li said.

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Substantial progress on bilateral cooperation can enhance understanding and rebuild mutual trust between the two sides - and in turn help negotiations under the multilateral United Nations framework move forward, Zhang said.

A ministerial-level dialogue mechanism on climate change was set up between China and the EU in April, which aims to facilitate information sharing and exchanges between China and Europe.

The two sides have agreed to hold talks regularly to strengthen collaboration and deepen understanding, according to a joint statement issued in April.

"This sets a good example of how two important players coming to the negotiating table from very different backgrounds can find common points of interest - and recognize the urgency of finding a global agreement," Abou said.

As technology innovation plays an important part in searching for global warming solutions, scientists from both sides have been working closely together, with more than 35 Chinese research organizations currently receiving more than 3.9 million euros ($5.38 million) of funding from the European Commission for projects exploring such things as energy efficiency, carbon capture and storage and initiatives to combat desertification.

For instance, preliminary research for the Near Zero Emissions Coal Project have concluded and both sides are now moving forward toward building a demonstration plant capable of capturing and storing carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants.

"Our ultimate aim is to have a plant operating by 2020. The EU has recently committed 57 million euros for that," Abou said.

Other cooperation projects including the modeling of greenhouse gas emissions, the quest for technological solutions, the exchange of experiences on policy tools, such as emissions trading, and the identification of plans at the provincial level to respond to climate change have also begun.