By WANG Qing

On May 24, at this year’s World Economic Forum, panel discussions related to global warming continue to occupy a significant part of the agenda on the main stage. Jiemian News reporter Wang Qing asks Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, to speak about the prospect of China-EU collaboration in the transition to renewable energy.

Jiemian News: You mentioned that now, Europe is facing this transition to renewable energy and is looking for global partners. What is your prospect in this context, in terms of the China-EU collaboration?

Timmermans: Yes, I also spoke to him (Xie Zhenhua, China’s climate envoy) last week online, and I will be meeting with him in Berlin tomorrow night. I think our talks focused mainly on both the issue of mitigation, how do you reduce emissions and adaptation? How do you make sure we bring together the funds that were promised to the developing world for the adaptation, and we are looking for ways to make that happen together.

We are also looking for ways to increase the acceptance of an emissions trading system in China, which is something that China is working on. And I think it's very promising. And of course, we're also always very interested in knowing what the transition to renewables actually means in China, because China is massively investing in renewables. We want to know how and where and what this means for China's energy mix. China is responsible for about a quarter of emissions globally, if we can really, really make agreements that reduce those emissions, that would have a huge impact on global emissions. And I also think it will have a huge positive impact on China's future economy if they could shift away from fossil fuels to renewables.

I think this is like what John says, a global issue, where I believe China has always shown a leadership role. There would not have been an agreement in Paris, without China playing a leadership role there together with the United States. There would not have been an agreement last year in Glasgow, if there was not a meeting of minds, especially between the US and China, and that we could sort of coming to an agreement that was acceptable to China, but was very much forward-looking. So we need China in this and but also China needs to show responsibility in this and Mr. Xie Zhenhua was someone that we can really, really work with.