China and the EU could issue a formal climate change statement by next week, ex-UN official says
Former UN climate change official Christiana Figueres said the EU and China might be able to deliver a joint climate statement ‘around the G20’ summit
China and the European Union may deliver a joint climate statement around the time of next week’s G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, part of an effort to formalise their alliance on tackling climate change in wake of the US’ withdrawal from the landmark Paris climate deal, a former United Nations official and climate observer said.
Christiana Figueres, former executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, said in a press teleconference on Wednesday that the EU and China “might be able to deliver that [the joint climate statement] around the G20”.
“I do expect that, and I do know now, negotiators from both sides have continued to work to solve that issue,” Figueres said.
The parties were blocked from making such a statement due to their spat over trade disputes during a bilateral summit in Brussels nearly a month ago. As world leaders of the G20 group, including China’s President Xi Jinping and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, prepare to meet on July 7-8, the two sides are still working on to restore the global climate leadership.
“There is actually no disagreement between the EU and China on climate change,” Figueres said. “The fact is that the statement failed to be released because of a very specific issue on trade, but not because of climate change.”