China and EU can lead global energy transition

Editor's note: Azhar Azam, a special commentator for CGTN, works for a private organization as a market and business analyst. He writes on geopolitical affairs and regional conflicts. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN.

Just more than a year before the adoption of the landmark Paris Climate Agreement, Chinese President Xi Jinping and former U.S. President Barack Obama made a historic announcement in Beijing on climate change, extending their commitment to a successful agreement in Paris and marking a new era of multilateral climate diplomacy.

The two leaders in 2016, on the eve of the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, formally ratified the treaty. Commemorating the momentous moment, Obama said " … where countries like China and the United States are prepared to show leadership … it is possible for us to create a world that is more secure, more prosperous and more free than the one that was left for us."  

But within months of this unprecedented cooperation, U.S. President Donald Trump in his first term withdrew from the deal, seen by world leaders as an act of "denying science (and) turning your backs on multilateralism." The broad-based multilateralism is again under strain after Washington for the second time pulled out of the Paris Agreement, urging other major powers such as China and the EU to fill the void by undertaking the role of climate leadership.

As part of the EU quest of finding new climate partners, French Minister for Ecological Transition Agnes Pannier-Runacher recently visited Beijing and found "points of convergence" including "commitment to the Paris Agreement" and "multilateralism." "At a time when science is doubted … impact of climate deregulation … is contested … it is important for the European Union and China to assume their responsibilities."

With the U.S. continuing to retreat from its pledges, China could be a valuable EU partner on climate change and the acceleration of global transition to green technology. This was highlighted in Pannier-Runacher's comments, which hailed China's "dynamism" and urged all countries to learn from its "quickness" on renewable energy technologies.

China, as a leader in green technology, offers significant opportunities of cooperation for Europe on reducing carbon emissions through clean energy transition. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, 92.5 percent of global energy capacity added in 2024 came from renewable energy, at 585 gigawatts (GW). China accounted for 373.6 GW or about 64 percent of new global renewable capacity with significant contributions in solar, wind, bioenergy and hydropower.

Beijing is also the world's largest investor in clean energy. Per research provider Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), China's total investment estimated at $818 billion in green technology last year was greater than the combined investment of the U.S., EU and the UK. Of the total 16.2 million employment opportunities created in renewable energy globally in 2023, 7.4 million jobs were generated in China. It is also the "dominant equipment manufacturer" in the two most dynamic renewable energy sectors: wind and solar photovoltaics (PV).

The world's second largest economy is set to cement its position as a global clean energy leader. After surpassing its end-of-the-decade 1,200 GW target for solar PV and wind six years early, China is forecast to be the home of every other megawatt of all renewable energy capacity installed worldwide by 2030. The International Energy Agency's Executive Director Fatih Birol summed up Beijing's stunning lead in two words: "China, solar."

China's ascendancy in renewable energy may be astonishing but it isn't shocking. Several decades ago, Beijing identified clean energy industries as strategic, directed investments toward them and introduced policies that would promote the deployment of renewables and manufacture of those technologies. Initiatives such as Green Electricity Certificates are accelerating the push of de-carbonization and sustainable development domestically; China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative is hastening the adoption of clean technology internationally through development of green infrastructure.

Both Beijing and Brussels, as major global energy consumers and with their shared interests and goals toward green, low-carbon development, have a great potential to work together and fast-track their clean energy transition. With China's extensive experience in project development and technology innovation and the EU's ambitious climate goals and proximity to Africa – cooperation between the two sides can meaningfully contribute to climate goals, energy transition and green industrialization, unlocking matchless opportunities for market expansion and job creation as well as advancing Africa's own energy future.

China and the EU have a long history of cooperation on climate change. The China-EU Partnership on Climate Change, signed in 2005, was one such high-level political framework that sought to strengthen cooperation and dialogue on low-carbon technologies with a focus on the "development and deployment of clean energy technology."

Established in the China-EU Leaders' Meeting in 2020, the China-EU High-Level Environment and Climate Dialogue (HECD) builds on this partnership. Realizing interconnected challenges of climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss and desertification, both sides in the fifth HECD last year recognized the urgency of global climate action to "respect the goals of the Paris Agreement and the targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework," agreeing to intensify cooperation on the environment, water and circular economy and jointly contributing to a multilateral process of climate governance.

In contrast to the U.S. that has frequently deviated from its commitments, China has remained steadfast in honoring its promises with the world. Once Trump in his first term had ditched the Paris Agreement, Beijing pledged to stand by its responsibilities on climate change, and China and the EU after the 20th China-EU Summit in 2018 underlined their "strong determination" to fight climate change and demonstrate global leadership, showing commitment with multilateralism.

As Washington's actions threaten to weaken climate action and multilateralism as well as aggravate the climate crisis, green cooperation between Beijing and Brussels is essential to low-emission transition, develop new technologies and achieve sustainable development goals, a universal call to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. 

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