Speech by EU Commissioner Dimas - EU cooperation with China and India on climate change related issues

Summary: Speech by EU Commissioner Dimas - EU cooperation with China and India on climate change related issues (8 December 2005: Montreal)

Speech by Stavros Dimas, Member of the European Commission, Responsible for Environment, Side event in the context of the UN Climate Change Summit, Montreal

EU cooperation with China and India on climate change related issues

Thank you for inviting me to address this side event on EU co-operation with China and India in the field of climate change. I very much welcome this opportunity to present the current state of our co-operation, what has been achieved thus far and briefly outline how we can take further steps to deepen our joint efforts.

I look forward to a constructive dialogue with Mr. Ghosh and Mr. Su Wei, and of course Mrs. Becket and the other speakers.

Climate change stands high on the EU's external relations agenda. It is already an integral part of bilateral co-operation with numerous third countries, in particular emerging economies. Climate change, through its global impact and economic consequences, is a strong vehicle for economic co-operation, energy-related technology transfer and broader environmental efforts such as air pollution and biodiversity.

In February this year the European Commission adopted its report "Winning the Battle against Global Climate Change". In this report, the Commission sets out a blueprint for the EU's medium and long-term climate change strategy. A key element of the EU strategy is the need to find tools to strengthen developing country participation in global efforts to address climate change.

The need to reach out to third countries was also identified as a key priority by the European Heads of State and Government in the European Council meeting in March this year. The UK has put climate change at the heart of its international agenda as part of its EU Presidency - we very much thank Mrs. Beckett for all efforts in this area.

The EU Partnerships with China and India, concluded early September, are probably the most visible and far-reaching results of these efforts.

Mrs Beckett has already introduced to you some of the activities that we will be undertaking under these Partnerships. The development, transfer and deployment of new technology stand at the centre of our co-operation. We will be taking concrete steps in the area of carbon capture and storage. I also look forward to moving forward in the area of renewable energy and energy efficiency, where China and India still harbour considerable opportunities for low cost measures.

Concerns about the impacts of climate change are growing in China and India as well as in the EU. In the EU we are only just at the start of developing strategies to adapt to the unavoidable consequences of climate change. The new phase of the European Climate Change Programme that the Commission launched end October will address adaptation and actions that we can take at the EU level.

Both Partnership put considerable focus on adaptation. There is much that we can learn from each other in this area.

Another area where the Partnerships can make an important contribution are the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism and the use of market-based mechanisms more generally.

Market-based mechanisms form an important part of the EU's strategy to tackle climate change. EU emission trading that was launched on the 1st of January this year is a cornerstone of EU climate policy. The first months have seen very healthy trading - with some 270 million tonnes, worth 3 to 4 billion €, changing hands.

At the international level, the EU believes that any post-2012 climate change regime must include market-based mechanisms. But, in the short term, the management and flow of CDM projects must improve.

The possibility to link EU emission trading with CDM projects will provide a strong incentive. EU Member States are already planning to buy more than 520 million tonnes of CO2 through the mechanisms, and have set aside at least 2.7 billion € for this purpose. Business demand for the CDM will come in addition to this. A significant share of these CDM projects will take place in China and in India.

We need to work at concrete and practical level. There are still many technical issues that need to be hammered out. One way is to bring our business communities together and create an opportunity for dialogue. On 11 and 12 November this year the Government of India organised a very successful EU-India Workshop on the Clean Development Mechanism in New Delhi. The workshop was attended by an impressive number of Indian and EU business representatives as well as Member State and EU policy makers. It allowed for a frank exchange between the EU and India on options to strengthen the CDM, in preparation for this session of the COP/MOP.

A similar workshop was organised jointly by the Commission and the Chinese State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) in Beijing this November.

Certainly one of the most important lessons that the EU takes home from both meetings is that the emerging global carbon market has mobilised business and industry around the world in seeking out cost effective reduction opportunities. We will now explore with our Indian and Chinese partners how we can now best take our work forward, to best suit the individual needs of each of us.

Lastly, the link between climate change and energy issues will obviously play a very central role in both Partnerships. We have booked progress in this area as well. The EU-India Energy Panel was launched earlier this year. It has now set up working groups on energy efficiency and renewable energies, clean coal and clean coal conversion technologies, as well as fusion energy. The Energy Panel and its working groups will meet again early next year.

The EU and China have a well established cooperation in the energy sector, which goes back over 20 years. This year has however seen an important strengthening of this cooperation with direct links to climate change. We have witnessed the agreement on an EU-China Action Plan on Clean Coal Technologies and an EU-China Action Plan on Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energies.

The EU and China also recently started a 42 million € Energy and Environment Programme, which provides funding for cooperation in the area of energy efficiency, renewable energy and natural gas. Finally, I should not forget to mention the Beijing International Renewable Energy Conference, which was held from 7-9 November in Beijing.

To sum up, the Partnerships form a new stage of EU-China and EU-India co-operation. They have got off to a good start. The Partnerships are concrete. They focus on practical steps to bring our climate change co-operation forward. We now need to focus on implementation and bring them forward by concrete steps such as the clean coal power plant that we will set up in China.

Let me also stress that the EU is willing to explore similar forms of co-operation with other countries. International co-operation on climate change can take the form of different platforms or initiatives. This contributes to the UN context, which brings all these initiatives together, providing guidance and organising global support that it necessary to address the challenge of climate change.

I believe the EU-China and EU-India partnerships can play an important role in this context.

Thank you for your attention.

Ref: SP05-321EN
EU source: European Commission
UN forum:
Date: 8/12/2005

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