The fifth EU-China high-level dialogue on the environment and climate took place for the very first time in Brussels on Tuesday 18 June, with the aim of strengthening bilateral cooperation between the EU and China on domestic and international policies.
The European Commission’s Executive Vice-President in charge of the Green Deal, Maroš Šefčovič, who is co-chairing this dialogue, said in an introductory speech to the Chinese Vice-Premier, Ding Xuexiang, and the rest of the Chinese delegation that “green should be the colour of our cooperation”.
“We find ourselves at a time when international peace and stability are under serious threat, so it’s important that we don’t lose sight of what matters most to our citizens, namely the survival of the human race and the guarantee that we will continue to have a habitable planet”, he continued.
Divided into two sessions, the first part of the dialogue, in the presence of the Commissioner for Climate Action, Wopke Hoekstra, was aimed at taking stock of national climate policies, discussing the forthcoming COP29, which will take place in Baku, Azerbaijan in November (see EUROPE 13432/12), and exchanging views on bilateral cooperation on climate policies arising from the Paris Agreement and the transition to clean energy.
Mr Hoekstra also signed an updated memorandum of understanding with the Minister for Ecology and the Environment, Huang Runqiu, to strengthen cooperation on emissions trading.
This “demonstrates our shared commitment to promoting carbon pricing as an effective tool for a climate-neutral economy”, said the Commissioner.
The second session, involving Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius, focused more specifically on the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal COP15 Global Biodiversity Framework, as well as bilateral cooperation on water and the circular economy.
Mr Sinkevičius said that it was necessary to “strengthen our cooperation on marine protected areas (MPAs) in Antarctica and continue to make progress in reducing plastic pollution”. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)