"Changing Climates": EU and China must face the future together

chinadialogue hosts a Chatham House debate on energy security and climate change

LONDON – The European Union and China – respectively, the world’s largest single market and the fastest growing economy – share similar concerns regarding energy security and climate change. Facing mutual, interlinked challenges for decades to come, neither Europe nor China can respond on its own to the threats – and the opportunities – that will arise.

Recognising this, chinadialogue and Chatham House launch today (15 October 2007) “Changing Climates”, a bilingual, online debate on these core political issues. chinadialogue will publish a series of articles by Chinese and non-Chinese authors on a variety of pertinent topics, and will invite participants from China and Europe to take part in the discussion.

The chinadialogue-Chatham House arrangement stems from a Chatham House EU-China research project – conducted with a host of Chinese and European partners — that aims to establish greater understanding of the interdependence and potential collaboration between the EU and China as they confront the energy and climate security challenges ahead.

Joining Chatham House to address these challenges are E3G (a London-based sustainable development NGO), the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and the Chinese Energy Research Institute (ERI), in cooperation with the Paris-based Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). The project is backed by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Global Opportunities Fund.

The project’s four key aims are to:

identify the EU and China’s mutual interests, challenges and opportunities over the next 25 years;

generate a shared vision for achieving the goals of both regions in order to strengthen long-term engagement on these issues;

produce high-quality analysis on the priority opportunities for future collaborators to meet climate and energy security goals;

assemble policy options for European and Chinese ministers ahead of the EU-China summit in Beijing on 28 November and United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP) meeting in Bali, Indonesia, on 3-14 December.

Articles and debate in chinadialogue’s “Changing Climates” will encompass energy efficiency, climate impacts, technologies, trade and investment, and political economy and governance. With the creation of a low-carbon economy set to be the next industrial revolution, Europe and China will need to work together, with real vision and political courage.

“The search for climate-friendly and secure solutions to future energy needs is one of the most important challenges that Europe and China face,” chinadialogue editor Isabel Hilton said today. “We are delighted that our European and Chinese partners have chosen chinadialogue’s unique website as the place to explore this vital issue.”

“Changing Climates” will kick off the exploration — and the conversation.

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