E3G

‘Changing Climates’: EU-China Interdependence on chinadialogue

By Chris Littlecott

Launching today on the website of chinadialogue is a new forum for debate on energy security and climate change.

The European Union and China – respectively, the world’s largest single market and the fastest growing economy – share similar concerns regarding energy security and climate change. Facing mutual, interlinked challenges for decades to come, neither Europe nor China can respond on its own to the threats – and the opportunities – that will arise.

chinadialogue and the EU–China Interdependencies on Energy and Climate Security project at Chatham House have launched “Changing climates” to bring greater understanding of the interdependence and potential collaboration between the EU and China as they confront the energy and climate security challenges ahead.

The articles and debate on “Changing climates” will cover energy efficiency, climate impacts, technologies, trade and investment, and political economy and governance. With the creation of a low-carbon economy set to be the next industrial revolution, Europe and China will need to work together, with real vision and political courage.

Read the latest articles – and join the conversation on the Changing Climates site.

The chinadialogue-Chatham House arrangement stems from a Chatham House EU-China research project – conducted with a host of Chinese and European partners — that aims to establish greater understanding of the interdependence and potential collaboration between the EU and China as they confront the energy and climate security challenges ahead.

Joining Chatham House to address these challenges are E3G, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and the Chinese Energy Research Institute (ERI), in cooperation with the Paris-based Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). The project is backed by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Global Opportunities Fund.

The project’s four key aims are to:

identify the EU and China’s mutual interests, challenges and opportunities over the next 25 years;

generate a shared vision for achieving the goals of both regions in order to strengthen long-term engagement on these issues;

produce high-quality analysis on the priority opportunities for future collaborators to meet climate and energy security goals;

assemble policy options for European and Chinese ministers ahead of the EU-China summit in Beijing on 28 November and United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP) meeting in Bali, Indonesia, on 3-14 December.