EU Urges China to Commit to Renewable and Methane Targets

China and Europe’s top energy officials held talks in Beijing this week on the global shift from fossil fuels to renewables to limit excessive global warming.

The meeting between Kadri Simson and China’s National Energy Administration chief Zhang Jianhua was their first in-person get-together since before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Simson, who is and Europe’s energy commissioner, urged China to commit to renewable energy and methane reduction targets.

However, their meeting comes amid strained ties between the two trade partners, just after Brussels angered Beijing by announcing a probe into Chinese subsidies for electric vehicles.

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Brussels is also considering investigating Chinese subsidies to its wind turbine manufacturers, but Simson told reporters no decision had been taken on whether to move ahead with the probe.

She said she urged China to sign up to a global plan to reduce methane and to commit to a tripling of renewable energy capacity globally by 2030.

“China so far has not committed despite the fact that they are global leaders in deploying renewables,” said Simson, of the renewable energy target.

The two sides also discussed carbon neutrality commitments, but Simson said she did not push China for more ambitious targets.

“I believe it will be possible to decarbonize way earlier than 2060 but every government has the right to choose their own path,” she told a press briefing, referring to China’s net zero target, which is a decade later than the EU’s 2050 goal.

She said she urged China to sign up to a global plan to reduce methane and to commit to a tripling of renewable energy capacity globally by 2030.