China and EU try to forge common front to lead fight against climate change
- Cooperation between Brussels and Beijing will take on renewed importance at this month’s Madrid summit after the US exited an agreement to limit emissions
- Governments are increasingly aware of the need to ‘fight the same battle’, but must now find ways to translate this concurrence into action
As world leaders converged on Spain this week to discuss the next steps in fighting man-made climate change, China and the European Union have been looking for ways to lead the fight against the “most important” challenge they face.
China is the world’s largest producer of emissions blamed for global warming, while the EU is ranked third after the United States – heightening the importance of their cooperation after Washington pulled out of a previous commitment to cut its use of carbon-based fossil fuels.
The two-week UN climate summit in Madrid, known as COP25, will attract representatives from 197 countries.
Most world leaders are increasingly concerned about the changing climate and the threat it brings to food supplies as well as rising ocean levels that could flood coastal cities and force mass migrations.
Scientists this year said temperatures were rising faster than anticipated and the World Meteorological Organisation warned on Tuesday that the past decade may be the hottest 10 years on record.