The European Union is withholding its endorsement of a joint climate pledge with China, citing insufficient commitments from Beijing on greenhouse gas reductions, according to an interview with EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra published in the Financial Times on Monday.
The move comes ahead of a planned summit this month between EU and Chinese officials, which is set to commemorate 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two sides. While both parties are expected to discuss a range of bilateral and multilateral issues, climate action had been anticipated as a central pillar of the summit communiqué.
According to the Financial Times, the EU has declined to sign a joint declaration unless China offers concrete commitments to strengthen its decarbonisation efforts. Brussels has reportedly resisted repeated requests from Beijing to issue a mutual climate statement, stating that symbolic gestures must be backed by substantive action.
“There is only merit in having a declaration from our perspective if there are also content nuts to be cracked and ambition to be displayed,” Hoekstra said.
The European Union’s climate targets are currently among the most stringent globally, with a binding legal framework that commits member states to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The EU’s interim targets are also under review, with a revised 2035 emissions reduction plan due for submission to the United Nations by mid-September.
China, by contrast, remains the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases and has struggled to reconcile its climate ambitions with ongoing economic priorities. While Beijing has pledged to reach carbon neutrality by 2060 and to peak emissions before 2030, observers have raised concerns over the lack of specific implementation measures and continued dependence on coal-fired power generation.
The Chinese foreign ministry, responding to the EU’s position, reaffirmed its commitment to international climate cooperation.
“China has always been actively promoting green and low-carbon development,” spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters at a regular briefing. “We will continue to work with other countries to strengthen international cooperation on climate change, and contribute to the green transformation and sustainable development of humankind.”
However, internal targets set by Beijing appear to be at risk. Analysts expect China to miss its current five-year goal of reducing carbon intensity – the amount of carbon dioxide emitted per unit of economic output – by 18% by the end of 2025.
The disagreement over a joint pledge reflects broader tensions in EU-China relations, particularly in areas of economic reciprocity, human rights, and strategic competition. While both parties have cooperated in forums such as the G20 and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), divergences have grown in recent years, particularly over trade imbalances and issues related to energy security and technology access.
European officials have also grown increasingly cautious of issuing joint statements that might be perceived as aligning EU climate efforts with those of countries seen as lagging in implementation. An EU official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that any bilateral declaration must reflect both sides’ willingness to take verifiable steps towards their stated goals.
The European Commission has not yet issued an official comment on the Financial Times report, and Reuters has been unable to independently verify the details.
The summit, expected to be held in Beijing on July 24 and 25, is likely to proceed without the climate pledge unless further negotiations yield a revised commitment from China. Diplomatic sources suggest that climate will remain on the agenda, though any joint declaration may be downgraded or excluded entirely unless a breakthrough occurs.
The EU’s current climate diplomacy is shaped not only by its internal legislative targets, but also by its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which places tariffs on imports from countries with less stringent emissions standards. China has previously criticised the CBAM as a form of green protectionism, adding further complexity to climate cooperation between the two sides.
