China and the European Union reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris Agreement in a joint statement on Monday, July 16, 2018 after the 20th EU-China Summit held in Beijing.
During the summit, leaders highlighted the importance of tackling climate change and called other nations to step up climate action. This effort is said to have become more urgent than ever because of the disastrous effects of climate change. The leaders expressed their commitment to advance cooperation on the implementation of the Paris Agreement and fully support the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference (COP24), which will take place in December 2018 in Katowice, Poland.
President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, said: “We have underlined our joint, strong determination to fight climate change and demonstrate global leadership. It shows our commitment to multilateralism and recognises that climate change is a global challenge affecting all countries on earth. There is no time for us to sit back and watch passively. Now is the time for decisive action.”
The 16-point joint statement and the annex on climate change and clean energy was agreed on by the European Council President Donald Tusk, European Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, and Chinese Premier, Li Keqiang. The statement highlighted the impact of climate change and underscored the need for rapid action to fight against it.
Among other important points related to tackling climate change, the statement talked about the promotion of a global clean and low-carbon energy transition, especially towards sustainable, affordable, reliable and modern energy services.
Leaders also expressed their joint support for other important areas like human rights, trade and foreign and security cooperation. Based on the principles of respect, trust, equality and mutual benefit, leaders agreed to further deepen their partnership for peace, growth, reform and civilisation by comprehensively implementing the EU-China 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation.
