Beijing, 19 October 2006

China and the EU issued the Joint Declaration on Climate Change which established the bilateral Partnership on Climate Change at the EU-China Summit in Beijing on 5 September 2005. As confirmed by the Leaders at the 9 September 2006 EU-China Summit in Helsinki, China and the EU are committed to this Partnership. In order to implement and achieve the objectives of the joint declaration on climate change, China and the EU agreed the following Rolling Work Plan at the second meeting of the bilateral consultation mechanism on 19 October 2006. The Rolling Work Plan will be regularly updated by mutual agreement in order to ensure that it accurately reflects the needs of China and the EU and is adapted to any new development. The rolling work plan is written in Chinese and English.

Objectives of the Partnership:

The Partnership is to provide a mechanism for the EU and China to take a strategic view of shared climate change objectives, and to take an overview of, give direction to and develop bilateral cooperation activities that contribute to these objectives.

 

As stated in the Joint Declaration, the key objectives of the EU-China Partnership are to:

-        strengthen dialogue on climate change policies and exchange views on key issues in the climate change negotiations;

-        significantly improve the energy intensity of our economies through cooperation;

-        strengthen practical cooperation on the development, deployment and transfer of low carbon technology, to enhance energy efficiency and promote the low carbon economy;

-        encourage low carbon technology development, deployment and dissemination and work jointly to ensure that the technologies become affordable energy options;

-        explore financing issues including the role of the private sector, joint ventures, public private partnerships, and the potential role of carbon finance and export credits;

-        co-operate to address barriers to the development, deployment and transfer of technology

-        develop and demonstrate in China and the EU advanced, near-zero emissions coal technology through carbon capture and storage;

-        reduce significantly the cost of key energy technologies and promote their deployment and dissemination;

-        strengthen the implementation of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), exchange information on CDM projects and encourage our companies to engage in CDM projects co-operation;

-        exchange information and experience on the design and practical implementation of other market-based instruments such as emissions trading and on assessing the costs and benefits of their use;

-        strengthen co-operation on adaptation to the impacts of climate change;

-        enhance cooperation in capacity building and strengthening institutions.

Activities carried out to date:

The Partners have carried a number of activities since the establishment of the Partnership, including:

-        The China-EU Seminar "Towards a Global Carbon Market: Using Market-Based mechanisms to Combat Climate Change" was held in Beijing on 14-15 November 2005, bringing together policy makers and the private sector from both sides, strengthening the cooperation on these issues.

-        Bilateral consultations took place in the run-up to and during COP 11 and COP/MOP 1 climate change meetings in Montreal.

-        Memoranda of Understanding were signed between the European Commission and Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) of China on 20 February 2006, and between the UK's DEFRA and DTI with MOST on 21 December 2005 on the first phase of co-operation on near-zero emissions power generation technology through carbon dioxide capture and storage.

-        Following this initial stage of the Partnership, the inaugural meeting of the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism took place in Vienna on 30 March 2006. A wide range of issues were discussed including the elaboration of a work plan for the Partnership.

-        Bilateral consultations took place during the 24^th Session of the Meetings of the Subsidiary Bodies in Bonn in May 2006.

-        A workshop on "the development of clean coal policy for China" took place in Beijing on 3-4 July 2006 in the framework of the Energy and Environment Programme, and an international workshop on Near-Zero Emissions Coal – Power Generation with Carbon Capture and Storage in China" was held in Beijing on 4-5 July 2006.

-        The first Joint China-EU Workshop on Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change took place in Beijing on 21-22 September 2006.

-        The second meeting of the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism took place in Beijing on 19 October 2006 at which this work plan was agreed and preparations for the UN Climate Change Conference in Nairobi were discussed.

Activities that contribute to the objectives of the Partnership have also been undertaken under other bilateral mechanisms.

Framework for cooperation:

The Partners agree that the framework for achieving the objectives of the Partnership will take the following forms:

-        EU-China summit: ensuring high-level political follow-up and where necessary provide further guidance.

-        Bilateral Consultation Mechanism: ensuring contacts at working level, involving representatives from the Chinese Ministries concerned and the EU Troika (current and future EU Presidency and Commission) to provide broader political coordination and guidance for the implementation of the Partnership and strengthen their dialogue on climate change policies and exchange views on key issues in the climate change negotiations. This Mechanism shall meet at least once and where necessary twice every year.

-        Direct cooperation between the EU environment counsellors group and relevant Chinese ministries: the EU environment counsellors group will ensure coordination between EU Member States and day to day follow-up of the Partnership

The Partners also recognize the importance of bilateral sectoral work under other bilateral mechanisms for achieving the objectives of this Partnership.

The Partners also agree to exchange information on activities that contribute to the objectives of this Partnership under the climate change Partnership, as practicable, at meetings of the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism, including through an updated list of such activities.[1]

Priority areas of cooperation and next steps:

For the purpose of this Partnership, the Partners recognise the importance of practical cooperation in the following priority areas (PA):

(1)        Energy efficiency and energy conservation;

(2)        New and renewable energy;

(3)        Clean coal technologies and carbon dioxide capture and storage for near-zero emissions power generation

(4)        Methane recovery and use

(5)  Hydrogen energy and fuel cells

(6)        Power generation, transmission and distribution

(7)        Clean Development Mechanism and other market-based instruments such as Emissions Trading Schemes

(8)        Impacts of and adaptation to climate change

(9)  Capacity building, strengthening institutions and raising public awareness.

This will primarily be achieved by means of exchanging information and experience on climate change related policy and regulations, joint research and technology development and demonstration, technology transfer, involvement of the private sector, exchange of personnel and training, and awareness programmes.

 

As a first step, the Partners agreed to undertake joint activities in the following areas, to be initiated in the period 2006-2008:

 

-          An EU-China expert seminar on climate change related research and technological development cooperation, strategy visions and dissemination, as well as valorisation of the first results from the EU-funded projects including Chinese partners in the 1^st half  of 2007;

 

-   Development of one or more climate change programmes at the provincial level in China

 

-          CDM capacity building and project development at provincial levels in China (PA7);

 

-   Development of a national adaptation strategy in China (PA8);

 

-          Public awareness raising, including through media programmes in China (PA9);

 

-          The assessment of climate change impacts on key sectors in China.

 

-          Exploring options for the implementation of paragraph 7 of the joint declaration of 5 September 2005, with a view to achieving the co-operation goal by 2020 to develop and demonstrate in China and the EU advanced, near-zero emissions coal technology through carbon capture and storage.

 

For the effective implementation of the above activities, the EU and China are committed to providing financial resources and/or in-kind contributions, as appropriate, in accordance with their respective capabilities.

 

The Partners furthermore agreed to explore possibilities of cooperation in the following areas:

 

o        Key energy programmes/projects in China's 11^th Five Year Development Programme;

o        Exchange of information and experiences on developing effective energy efficiency and energy savings policies and measures (PA1);

o        Technology cooperation in priority areas 1-3 (PA1-3).

 

In order to have a good understanding of the practical implementation mechanisms:

-        Both sides agreed to conduct a joint analysis of the relationship between energy, economy development and greenhouse gas emissions in China and EU to identify further opportunities to achieve our objectives in the priority areas.

-        Both sides agreed to exchange information on their internal procedures, rules and mechanisms in their respective research programmes in order to identify ways of improving cooperation at a practical level in the field of research, particularly also related to the energy sector.

-        Both sides agreed to analyse the ongoing cooperative activities under the Partnership, taking into account other available information, in order to provide further strategic direction and address possible gaps through further activities under the Partnership.