China

On 25 June 2009, the European Commission adopted a Communication on "Demonstrating Carbon Capture and Geological Storage (CCS) in emerging developing countries: financing the EU-China Near Zero Emissions Coal Plant project". More information...

Fact sheet

Background:

The commitment of the EU and China to cooperation on environment and energy issues, including climate change was underlined and given an institutional structure at the 8th EU-China Summit in September 2005. At this Summit, a Joint Declaration on Climate Change was agreed, launching the EU-China Partnership on Climate Change. This partnership provides a high-level political framework to further strengthen the cooperation between EU and China by setting out concrete new actions to tackle climate change. These actions are set out in the Rolling Work Plan, as agreed in Beijing on 19 October 2006.

This partnership will fully complement the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol. It will strengthen cooperation and dialogue on climate change including clean energy, and will promote sustainable development. It will include cooperation on the development, deployment and transfer of low carbon technology, including advanced near-zero-emissions coal technology through carbon capture and storage.

In order to implement the first phase of the cooperation on near-zero-emissions coal technology, Memoranda of Understanding have been signed between the European Commission and China and the United Kingdom and China. Work has now begun on two complementary feasibility studies under these MoU, which are due to complete in 2008/9. The UK's NZEC project has a budget of €3.5m, while the EC's COACH project has a budget of €2.6m (including €1.5m EC contribution). Phase two will be a site-specific design and feasibility study, and phase three (to be completed by 2020) will be the construction and operation of a commercial scale demonstration plant fired by near-zero-emissions coal with CCS technology.

Key documents

Joint declaration on Climate Change between China and the European Union (pdf ~90KB)

Translation of Commission Communication 'Towards a comprehensive climate change agreement in Copenhagen' of 28 January - Translation in Mandarin Chinese (pdf ~374KB)

(Documents in English available at: future_action.htm)

Joint Activities

Projects

EU-China CDM Facilitation Project
The EU-China CDM Facilitation Project was officially launched on 28th of June 2007. The project will strengthen the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) as a central pillar within China’s path to sustainable development. Until January 2010, the focus will be on China’s policy and regulatory regime and quality management for CDM development. It will bring together a wide range of stakeholders at public and private sector levels involved in CDM projects. On the national level, the project will among other things assess effectiveness of technology transfer through CDM, and analyse CDM market development. The consortium implementing the project has finished a needs assessment and also established an inventory of all CDM capacity building projects in China. Several Member States have signalised interest to be involved in the activities on regional level.

This project implements one of the seven first joint activities of the EU-China Rolling Work Plan on Climate Change agreed in October 2006. The EU-China CDM Facilitation Project is being implemented by Chinese and European partners and associates with grants from the European Commission and is the largest European-funded project addressing CDM-related activities in China. The estimated cost of the project is 2.8 Million EUR.

The presentation and the press release can be downloaded from the project web site.

Partners in the CDM Facilitation Project conducted a study tour to Europe in October 2008. They visited UK, Sweden, Germany and the European institutions in Brussels.

EU-China cooperation on carbon capture and storage: Near Zero Emissions Coal (NZEC) demonstration plant
The EU-China Partnership on Climate Change is designed i.a. to strengthen practical cooperation on the development, deployment and transfer of clean fossil fuels technologies, to improve energy efficiency and to achieve a low carbon economy. In this respect the EU and China have developed a project with the aim of developing and demonstrating advanced near-zero emission coal (NZEC) technology through carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS). This technology will allow for the capture of CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants and its subsequent storage underground, for example in exploited oil or gas fields or in sealed geological strata, thereby avoiding CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.

Phase I

In order to implement the first phase of the cooperation on NZEC technology, Memoranda of Understanding have been signed between the European Commission and China and the United Kingdom and China.

Memorandum of Understanding between China and the European Commission - EN (pdf 114KB)
Memorandum of Understanding between China and the European Commission - CHN (pdf 106KB)
Presentation - UK (pdf ~870KB)
Presentation - COM (pdf 105KB)

Two coordinated feasibility studies are under way as part of Phase 1 of the near-zero emissions coal (NZEC) project, both involving European and Chinese partners, and led by a Joint Steering Committee. The first of these is the COACH project (Cooperation Action with CCS China-EU), which began on 1 November 2006 and had its kick-off event in China on 21-22 November 2006. It is funded, in part, under the EU's 6th Framework Programme for research, and has the following key objectives:

enhancement of knowledge sharing and capacity building;
preparation of the implementation of large scale clean coal energy facilities by 2020;
addressing of the cross-cutting issues, eg. Societal anchorage, legal, regulatory, funding and economic issues, and
coordination of activities performed under the EU-China MoU on NZEC.

COACH has five working groups dealing with i) knowledge sharing and capacity building; ii) capture technologies; iii) geological storage and large scale use of CCS; iv) recommendations and guidelines for implementation, and v) project management. Results are expected in 2009.

The second project is the UK's NZEC Initiative, which has a complementary set of five working groups, looking at i) knowledge sharing and capacity building; ii) future energy technology perspectives; iii) case studies for CO2 capture; iv) CO2 storage potential, and v) policy assessment and roadmap. Many partners are active in the consortia of both projects and therefore ensure the complementarity of the activities and that any gaps are filled. Chinese partners in both include ACCA21, Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University and Greengen (among others).

The UK's NZEC Initiative has a budget of up to £3.5m, while the EC's COACH project has a budget of €2.6m (including €1.5m EC contribution).

In addition to these two Phase I projects, the Support to Regulatory Activities for Carbon Capture and Storage (STRACO2) - Project is designed to support the development of a regulatory framework for CCS in the European Union and China. By supporting a CCS regulatory framework inside the EU, STRACO2 will be instrumental for establishing best practice standards globally. A specific mission of the EU project "Assessing Capacity for Geological Storage of Carbon Dioxide (GeoCapacity)" has also contributed to assess the storage capacity in one test area of China

COACH
STRACO2
UK-NZEC
Geocapacity

International Conference on EU-China Co-operation on Near Zero Emissions Coal: Phase I results and next steps, 28-29 October 2009 in Beijing, China.

The agenda with presentations is attached for your information.

Phase II

Phase two will be a site-specific design and feasibility study.

Memorandum of Understanding between China and the European Commission - EN
Memorandum of Understanding between China and the European Commission - CHN

and phase three (to be completed by 2020) will be the construction and operation of a commercial scale demonstration plant fired by near-zero-emissions coal with CCS technology

On 25 June 2009, the European Commission adopted a Communication on Demonstrating Carbon Capture and Geological Storage (CCS) in emerging economies and developing countries: financing the EU-China Near Zero Emissions Coal Plant project.

It set out plans to finance the demonstration of carbon capture and geological storage (CCS) in cooperation with China. This comes in the context of the commitment made by the EU and China in 2005 to develop and demonstrate in China and the EU advanced, near-zero emissions coal technology through carbon capture and storage by 2020. CCS is an important technology in the fight against climate change and has the potential to cut emissions from power generation in fast-developing and coal-dependent emerging economies, such as China.

Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said: "We have taken action to put in place the regulatory framework and the incentives to facilitate CCS demonstration in Europe and now we are making good on our promise to China. Action by developed and developing countries alike is essential to ensure global warming is kept below the danger level of 2ºC. This important cooperation between the EU and China on CCS can act as a model for cooperation under the post-2012 global climate change regime the world must agree in Copenhagen in December."

More information on EU actions on CCS...

More information on The EU's contribution to shaping the future global climate change regime...

Energy and Environment Programme

The EU-China Energy Environment Programme (EEP) was established 2002 to correspond to the political intent of the Chinese Government and the European Commission, to further strengthen the EU-China co-operation in the area of energy. The overall purpose of the Programme is to promote sustainable energy use by securing supply at improved economic, social and environmental conditions, thus contributing to improved environmental quality and health conditions in China. The total cost of the project 2001-2008 is 42.9 Million EUR. The programme runs until the end of 2008, although the partners are seeking an extension until 2010.

More information

Meetings

12th China-EU Summit (30 November 2009, Nanjing)

The Twelfth EU-China Summit was held in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province of China on 30 November 2009. Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council of the People's Republic of China attended the meeting on behalf of China. The European Union was represented by the President of the European Council, Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt of Sweden and the President of the European Commission, Mr. José Manuel Barroso.

12th China- EU Summit declaration (2009)

International Conference on EU-China Co-operation on Near Zero Emissions Coal: Phase I results and next steps, 28-29 October 2009 in Beijing, China.

The EU-China Near Zero Emissions Coal (NZEC) project is an important initiative under the EU-China Partnership on Climate Change with the aim “to develop and demonstrate in China and the EU advanced, near-zero emissions coal technology through carbon capture and storage”.

The agreement was followed by two substantial projects on CCS options and CCS capacity building in China, funded by the UK Department for Energy and Climate Change (UK-China NZEC Initiative) and the European Commission Cooperation Action within CCS China-EU (COACH). The regulatory aspects of CCS have also been considered by another project funded by the European Commission under the name of Support to Regulatory Activities for Carbon Capture and Storage (STRACO2). specific mission of the EU project "Assessing Capacity for Geological Storage of Carbon Dioxide (GeoCapacity)" has also contributed to assess the storage capacity in one test area of China

These projects have now reached their conclusion, and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, the European Commission, and the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change would accordingly like to invite you to a two-day conference in Beijing on 28-29 October 2009 to hear about and discuss their findings. The conference will additionally explore, on its second day, plans and expectations for the next phases of NZEC, the design, site selection, and construction of a CCS demonstration plant in China.

The agenda with presentations is attached for your information.

6th Meeting of the China-EU Bilateral Consultation Mechanism of the China EU Partnership on Climate Change, Beijing, 17 April 2009

The 6th meeting of the China-EU Bilateral Consultation under the China-EU Partnership on Climate Change took place on 17 April, 2009 in Beijing. The Chinese delegation was represented by Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Environmental Protection, Ministry of Science and Technology, State Forestry Administration, and China Meteorological Administration. The EU was represented by the Troika.

Minutes of the 6th Meeting on EU-China Co-operation on Near Zero Emissions Coal

Study visit of the UK-NZEC project to Brussels, 1-2 April 2009

On 1-2 April, partners of the UK-funded Near Zero Emissions Coal project visited European Commission headquarters in Brussels as part of a study tour encompassing visits to the UK, Belgium and Denmark. On 2 April, the Chinese colleagues received briefings on European climate change and energy policies and support to carbon capture and storage research and demonstration. The presentations are available below.

3rd Meeting of the EU-China NZEC Steering Committee, Brussels, 1 April 2009

The EU-China NZEC Steering Committee was established as a body to oversee the two main projects under Phase I of the EU-China Near Zero Emissions Coal (NZEC) cooperation The Steering Committee facilitates, monitors and steers the work undertaken in the framework of the EC-China NZEC Memorandum of Understanding and ensures coordination with the implementation of the UK-China Memorandum of Understanding. In this way, coherence and exploitation of synergies is ensured between the two projects. (See above, under Joint Activities for more information).

The 3rd Meeting of the EU-China NZEC Steering Committee was attended by Chinese participants from different ministries and other entities, interested Commission DGs and representatives of several Member States and the COACH and UK-NZEC projects. It was co-chaired by Mr Guo Risheng, Director General, The Administrative Centre for China's Agenda 21 (ACCA21) and Mr Lu Xuedu, Deputy Director General, Department of Climate Change, Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) for the Chinese side, and by Mr Raffaele Liberali, Director for Energy, DG RTD and Mr Jos Delbeke, Deputy Director General, DG ENV for the European Commission. The aims of the meeting were to agree on the conclusion of Phase I of the NZEC cooperation later in 2009 and to explore the options for next steps, particularly on the 2nd (feasibility and design) phase of the project.

5th Meeting of the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism under the EU-China Partnership on Climate Change (18 August 2008, Paris)

Climate change experts from the European Commission, the French Presidency of the EU, the forthcoming Czech presidency and China met in Paris to further discuss climate change issues of mutual interest. In particular, they agreed the revision of the Rolling Work Plan under the EU-China Partnership on Climate Change. They also briefed each other on recent domestic developments on climate change policy and discussed issues of interest in the context of the UNFCCC climate change negotiations. The Chinese side was lead by Mr. YU Qingtai, Special representative for negotiations on climate change, and the meeting was chaired by Mr. Brice LALONDE, for the French Presidency, with Mr. Artur RUNGE-METZGER for the European Commission, and Mr. Frantisek ZOUHAR for the incoming Czech Presidency.

Visit of President Barroso to China (24-26 April 2008)

President Barroso visited China on the 24-26 April together with 9 Commissioners: Benita Ferrero-Waldner (Relex), Peter Mandelson (Trade), Stavros Dimas (Environment), Janez Potočnik (Research), Louis Michel (Development), Vladimir Špidla (Employment), Andris Piebalgs (Energy), Laszlo Kovács (Customs) and Meglena Kuneva (Consumer Protection). The visit was unprecedented in both scale and scope and aimed to confirm and foster the EU’s strategic partnership with China. The visit was also in part a response to the Commission’s 2006 Communication on China which called to support the annual EU-China Summits “by regular cross-cutting exchange and dialogue at technical, ministerial and more senior level.”

The focus of the visit was on Climate Change and Sustainable Development, and participating Commissioners had extensive bilateral programmes related to these topics. These issues were also the main agenda points in the “Executive to Executive Meeting” which took place on 25 April, co-chaired by President Barroso and PM Wen. The meeting showed a common will to solve bilateral problems and a clear determination to address global challenges by deepening and fostering the strategic partnership.

In the Press Conference following this meeting, President Barroso said that "As far as climate change is concerned, we had a very deep exchange of views, particularly on the vital international negotiations. China is ready to work with the EU to take forward the Bali Roadmap. We welcome indications of Chinese readiness to include its domestic emission reduction policies in an international agreement, provided that developed countries commit to mid-term reduction targets for 2020 and that an effective financial mechanism is put in place to promote technology transfer."

During the visit, Commissioner Dimas met his counterpart, Vice Chairman Xie Zhenhua to discuss issues including the international climate change negotiations. Members of President Barroso's climate change and energy advisory group also met with their counterparts during the visit.

President Barroso also opened an EU climate change exhibition during his visit.

President Barroso's remarks at the press conference
Exhibition

10th China-EU Summit (28 November 2007, Beijing)

The 10th annual EU-China Summit took place on 28 November in Beijing. Over the last ten years, the EU and China have forged links in many areas such as research, education, energy, environment, transport and tourism. The tenth EU-China summit reflected on the EU's positive relationship with China , but also raised current issues such as climate change, security of energy supply and African development. As well as common interests, the EU and China also have shared responsibilities in these areas.

One key summit achievement was the signing by Philippe Maystadt, President of the European investment bank (EIB), and Chinese finance minister Xie Xuren of a €500m loan to combat climate change in China.

European and Chinese leaders welcomed the progress of the negotiations started last January towards a partnership and cooperation agreement. The agreement will include closer political cooperation and bring the 1985 EEC-China economic and trade agreement up to date, addressing new areas such as sustainable development, immigration, terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.

10th China- EU Summit declaration (2007)

4th Meeting of the Bilateral Consultation mechanism under the EU-China Partnership on Climate Change (5 November 2007, Beijing)

Climate change experts from the European Commission, Portuguese Presidency of the EU and China met in Beijing to further discuss climate change issues of mutual interest. In particular, they discussed the possible amendment of the Rolling Work Plan under the EU-China Partnership on Climate Change to include new joint activities, such as secondments of Chinese experts/officials to the EC and workshops on the Clean Development Mechanism, Technology Transfer, and the future of the Kyoto Protocol's flexible mechanisms post-2012. They also discussed issues of interest in the context of the forthcoming UNFCCC climate change conference in Bali in December 2007.

3rd Meeting of the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism under the EU-China Partnership on Climate Change (18 June 2007, Berlin)

This was the 3rd meeting of the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism set up under the EU-China Climate Change Partnership. The objectives were to update each other on recent developments, assess progress against the Rolling Work Plan, and discuss the road to Bali. The BCM meets twice yearly, with the next meeting to be held in Beijing in autumn.

Progress against Rolling Work Plan - Report (pdf 47KB)
Progress against Rolling Work Plan – Presentation

Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner to visit China (16-18 January 2007, China)

The European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner visited Beijing 16-18 January, to launch negotiations for a new Partnership and Co operation Agreement (PCA) between the EU and China, delivering on the commitment made by European and Chinese leaders at the EU-China Summit in Helsinki in September 2006. There were discussions on energy security and climate change, which are priorities for the EU in 2007. Neither of them can be effectively addressed without China.

More info press release

Asian Carbon Expo (24-27 October 2006, Beijing)

Asia Carbon Expo, jointly organized by the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA), the World Bank and Koelnmesse and supported by the European Commission, was the first carbon trading fair of its kind in Asia. Over 800 delegates attended to discuss carbon market issues and policies, meet CDM project developers and financers, and seal carbon credit deals during the 3-day Expo in Beijing. Drawing on the success of this event, IETA is organising ) with the support of the European Commission), the Asia Carbon Forum in Singapore in November 2007.

More information
EU Side Event – presentations:
o Austria
o France
o Belgium
o The Commission
o Finland
o Italy
o Spain
o Slovenia
o Sweden
o UK
o EU Chamber of Commerce
o KFW

2nd Meeting of the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism under the EU-China Partnership on Climate Change (October 2006, Beijing)

In the 2nd round of the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism the EU-China Partnership on Climate Change, the EU representation took place in troika format with participants from Beijing, Brussels, Helsinki and Berlin joining the discussions. The Chinese delegation was led by the MFA, with NDRC, MOST, and other ministries also participating (see enclosed list of participants). After the opening statements, the agenda covered the Rolling Work Plan of the China-EU Climate Partnership and exchange of views on the climate negotiations and the Nairobi sessions. The Rolling Work Plan (2006-2008) was agreed.

Rolling Work Plan

9th EU-China Summit (September 2006, Helsinki)

The Ninth EU-China Summit was held in Helsinki, Finland on 9 September 2006. The EU was represented by the President of the European Council, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen of Finland, President of the European Commission, Mr. José Manuel Barroso. Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council of China attended the meeting on behalf of the People's Republic of China. Leaders welcomed the progress on the implementation of the EU-China Partnership on Climate Change and stated that the partnership has provided a good foundation for strengthening dialogue and cooperation between the EU and China in the areas covered by the Partnership. They agreed to further strengthen the dialogue and cooperation in this regard.

Joint Statement
Commission Presentation

Joint China-EU Workshop on Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change (21-22 September 2006, Beijing)

On 21 and 22 September the European Commission, in cooperation with China and the United Kingdom, organised the first joint China-EU Workshop on Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change. This workshop, held in Beijing, brought together EU experts, researchers and policy-makers to discuss the growing impacts of climate change in the EU and China, as well as strategies to deal with these impacts.

Programme
Press release

1st Meeting of the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism under the EU-China Partnership on Climate Change (Vienna, 30 March 2006)

The 1st meeting of the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism was held in Vienna in March 2006. The EU was represented by the trojka (The Commission, Austria and Finland). The Commission was holding presentations on research, climate and energy interest vis-à-vis cooperation with China.
Agenda
Participants
Presentations:
Commission – policy overview
Commission
DG TREN
DG RTD – climate
DG RTD – energy

8th EU-China Summit (5 September 2005, Beijing)

The commitment of the EU and China to cooperation on environment and energy issues, including climate change was underlined and given an institutional structure at the 8th EU-China Summit in September 2005 in Beijing. At this Summit, a Joint Declaration on Climate Change was agreed, launching the EU-China Partnership on Climate Change. This partnership provides a high-level political framework to further strengthen the cooperation between EU and China by setting out concrete new actions to tackle climate change. These actions are set out in the Rolling Work Plan, as agreed in Beijing on 19 October 2006.

Joint declaration on Climate Change between China and the European Union (pdf 87KB)

More info