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European Union
ChinaDiplomacy

Climate change: EU proposes green tech alliance with Biden team in US, signalling less reliance on China

  • Europe has grown wary of its dependence on China and will look elsewhere for a partner on clean and circular technology
  • The EU calls for joint action with the US to build relationships with democracies in the Indo-Pacific region

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A European think tank says that as climate action becomes more material to economic interests, Europe and China will be both competitors and partners. Photo: Simon Song
Stuart Lau

The European Union has proposed a “new green tech alliance” with Joe Biden’s incoming administration, amid mounting calls for Brussels to stop treating Beijing simply as a partner on climate change issues and also regard it as a competitor.

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The concept was included in a new transatlantic agenda put forth by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, which also proposes China should be the top geopolitical issue to be tackled jointly by Brussels and Washington.

As China brands itself as a key player in tackling climate change – with President Xi Jinping promising to achieve climate neutrality by 2060 – Europe has grown wary of its own dependence on China for green technology, as well as Beijing’s lack of commitment in phasing out the use of coal at home and the construction of coal plants abroad.

“The EU and the US should capitalise on their experience and expertise through a new green tech alliance to create lead markets and cooperate on clean and circular technologies, such as renewables, grid-scale energy storage, batteries, clean hydrogen, and carbon capture, storage and utilisation,” said the EU document published on Wednesday.

“Together with our partners, the EU and the US can lead the world towards a green, circular, competitive and inclusive economy.”

According to Bloomberg data, at the end of 2019 Chinese panel factories had an annual capacity of 193 gigawatts, 60 per cent more than was installed worldwide in that year. Planned expansions could increase that total by more than half.

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