China and EU Explore Collaboration to Accelerate Global Clean Energy Transition
BRUSSELS – September 18, 2024 – A potential partnership between China and the European Union could be pivotal in achieving global climate goals, according to a new analysis by Adair Turner, Chair of the Energy Transitions Commission.As the world grapples with the urgency of limiting global warming to “well below 2°C,” the report highlights the unique opportunity presented by China’s dominance in clean technology manufacturing and the need for collaborative action, particularly in light of shifting geopolitical dynamics and the US’s diminished role in global climate leadership.
The analysis, published today, points to the increasingly competitive advantage of solar-plus-battery systems, already the cheapest way to provide round-the-clock electricity across much of the global sunbelt. Africa, in particular, stands to benefit from rapidly expanding access to affordable, clean energy, potentially leapfrogging conventional fossil fuel development.
However, China’s leadership in this sector has sparked concerns regarding job security and national security in other regions. Turner warns that tariffs and trade restrictions imposed in response to China’s manufacturing dominance could ultimately increase the cost and slow the pace of the global energy transition. Further complicating matters is China’s overcapacity in carbon-intensive industries like iron and steel, which threatens to undermine europe’s decarbonization efforts. While the EU carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism is seen as a justified response, it initially faced criticism from China as protectionist.
To unlock the full potential of this moment, Turner outlines four key priorities for Chinese-European cooperation, to be discussed at November’s United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Brazil:
- Enterprising Emissions Targets: China must commit to more aggressive emissions-reduction targets. This, in turn, would bolster support for climate commitments within Europe, countering the rise of populist movements skeptical of climate action.Europe should simultaneously strengthen its own medium-term targets and policies to meet its long-term goals.
- Decarbonizing Heavy Industry: china needs to accelerate innovation in key industrial sectors like steel, cement, and chemicals, driven by steadily rising carbon prices that ideally converge with European levels.
- Embracing Clean-Tech leadership: Europe should adopt a fact-based approach to competitiveness and security concerns, welcoming imports of clean technologies like solar panels and encouraging Chinese investment in sectors like batteries and electric vehicles, as recommended by the Energy Transitions Commission.
- Mobilizing Finance for Developing Nations: China and Europe should collaborate to unlock the necessary financial flows to accelerate clean energy growth in africa and other low-income countries.
turner concludes that China’s green-tech leadership represents a critical opportunity the world cannot afford to miss. Accomplished collaboration between China and Europe is now more vital than ever to realizing that potential and achieving a sustainable future.
