The EU and China: Climate Change and Energy Diplomacy

International Conference

On 2 May 2016, the EU-China Research Centre and the Baillet Latour Chair of European Union-China Relations at the College of Europe in Bruges organized a conference on “The EU and China: Climate Change and Energy Diplomacy” in the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in Brussels. The conference gave European and Chinese scholars the opportunity to exchange their views and discuss their research. Also, policymakers from the European Commission, the European Parliament and the EESC joined the conference as panel moderators and keynote speakers and thus contributed to the debate.

The conference focused on both the EU’s and China’s approaches to fight climate change. Participants thought about opportunities for cooperation and also examined the issue of energy security in the EU and China within a wider geopolitical context. Mr Luis PLANAS PUCHADES, Secretary-General of the EESC, and Professor Jing MEN, Director of the EU-China Research Centre and Baillet Latour Chair of EU-China Relations at the College of Europe (Bruges), welcomed the participants. After a keynote speech by Ms Brenda KING, President of the EESC Sustainable Development Observatory of the EESC, the debate was organized around four different thematic panels:

• COP21 – Assessment of the outcome and the way forward: what role(s) for China and the EU?
• The low-carbon society: aims and visions in China and the EU.
• Cooperation on energy technologies: partnership or competition?
• The geopolitics of energy security: what is at stake for the EU and China?

As a final note, Mr Jo LEINEN, Member of the European Parliament and Chairman of the China Delegation, gave a closing speech reminding everyone of their responsibilities towards future generations.

The Conference Programme with the full list of speakers is available on the provided link.

For questions about the conference, please contact us via the e-mail address EU-China-Conferences [at] coleurope.eu.