By Kate Abnett and David Stanway
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union and China are questioning their mutual commitment to tackling climate change, following the failure of the G20 climate talks last week.
At the end of last week’s negotiations in Bali, Indonesia, the 20 governments failed to agree on a joint communiqué on climate change. Diplomatic sources said some countries, including China, were unhappy with language that had already been agreed and enshrined in previous agreements.
The EU’s climate change chief on Monday accused “the biggest emitter on this planet” – a reference to China – of trying to roll back the Glasgow Climate Pact, which ended two weeks of UN talks in November.
“Some of the big players on this planet are trying to reverse what they had agreed in Glasgow,” Frans Timmermans told a meeting in Rotterdam on climate adaptation in Africa.
“And some of them, even the biggest emitter on the planet, try to hide behind developing countries using arguments that I think at some point are no longer viable,” said Timmermans, executive vice president of the European Commission.
China is responsible for around 30% of annual emissions, making it the world’s largest emitter, while the United States is the second and the EU the third. The United States, however, is the largest emitter historically.
China’s Foreign Ministry rejected the charge and said Beijing had demanded an “accurate” interpretation of previous climate agreements.
The 2015 Paris Agreement, for example, committed rich countries – whose emissions are largely responsible for global warming – to reduce carbon dioxide emissions faster, while supporting developing countries to follow suit. example. Under the Paris agreement, China is defined as a developing country.
“As a developing country, China has always supported a large number of developing countries and firmly protected their common interests,” a Chinese ministry spokesperson said.
The failure of rich nations to deliver promised climate finance has heightened tensions in global climate negotiations. The EU is the biggest provider of climate finance, according to OECD data.
China has pledged to peak emissions by 2030 – a target that could increase its emissions in the short term as it opens new coal plants. Beijing has resisted calls from Europe to revise this target to reduce emissions more quickly.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett in Brussels and David Stanway in Shanghai)
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