China's green technology is 'critical' to Europe's energy transition

Editor's note: What does China's technology mean for Europe's energy transition? As Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to visit Europe, we take a look at China-EU cooperation on climate, a key pillar of this bilateral relationship. This is our interview with Huw Slater, climate and energy specialist at ClientEarth. The views expressed in the video are his own and not necessarily those of CGTN.

CGTN: What attracts you most about China's energy sector?

Huw Slater: That's a good question. I've been in China for 13 years now, working in the climate and energy space. I think when I first came, it was the excitement of how fast things were moving, right? Like with anything in China, the economy is developing so quickly. It means that things change really quickly. And so, when you can see something, an opportunity, like the development of renewable energy, if you can make that development early on, it moves really quickly in China. And that's something that definitely attracted me to working in China.

CGTN: The European Union has announced its investigation into China's electric vehicle exports. China is saying that the increase in the exports is because of its tech innovation. The EU is saying that, no, it's because of state subsidies. So, there are differences on this matter. There are differences of views. Do you see both sides listening to each other enough so that they can find a common solution?

Huw Slater: I think that's really important, the listening side of things. Because, for the energy transition, we need to go fast to deal with climate change. To do the energy transition quickly, we need these key technologies to get cheaper and cheaper over time, right? So that we can apply them in the marketplace. We need to find ways that the energy transition is both quick, but also has benefits for people in all countries, right? Economic benefits. So that means we need to, work together to try to find ways where economic value and jobs and all of those important things can be found on both sides.

CGTN: What do you see as China's role in EU's energy transition? And vice versa, what's EU's role in China energy transition?

Huw Slater: It's critical, it’s critical. Just take some of the key technologies that we're using today to decarbonize, right? Solar power, wind power technology. The way that China has managed to bring the costs of these technologies down through applications domestically, within China, has meant that it's much more affordable for other countries, including Europe, to deploy them in their own countries. That's really, really important.

And obviously vice versa as well. So, China is also learning from Europe. One of the key pillars of decarbonization in Europe has been carbon pricing in the carbon market. China is also implementing its own carbon pricing mechanism. So, this sort of bilateral engagement, which is longstanding and a very strong point for international cooperation on climate. I think the EU-China relationship, it's important that we keep that going in the future.

CGTN: As you said, there is a longstanding relationship between China and the EU on the climate issue. Back when, during the last U.S. administration, the United States backed out of the Paris Agreement. And China and EU kind of bonded together and sort of stepped up to save this deal. We are facing kind of a similar uncertainty right now. So, this is kind of a hypothetical question. If something like that happens again, do you see China and EU can do that, can save that deal again under the current political climate?

Huw Slater: I think both sides are already preparing for that. I think the strength of the relationship that's been built over the last decade or two – a very, very close engagement, both between policy-makers and experts and civil society – puts us in good stead that I think that bilateral relationship will hold up to some extent. And that's really important, because international cooperation can go one or two ways, and we really want relationships like the EU-China one to stay solid and lead to more progress.

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