Extreme weather underscores importance of climate cooperation between China and EU

With climate change increasingly becoming a global challenge, experts believe that closer cooperation between China and the European Union (EU) on climate action and the green transition will be a crucial factor in advancing global climate governance. In some parts of Europe, temperatures recently exceeded 40 degrees Celsius, while health authorities reported a sharp rise in heat-related deaths during the hottest periods. Chinese-made air conditioners also saw strong sales growth in several European markets, reflecting rising demand for climate adaptation solutions amid increasingly frequent heatwaves. Scientists say the latest heatwave was partly caused by a persistent high-pressure system known as a ‘heat dome’, while climate change makes such extreme weather events more frequent and intense. Meanwhile, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has warned that the strengthening El Niño is expected to increase the likelihood of heatwaves, droughts, heavy rainfall, and other extreme weather events in many parts of the world in the coming months. ‘The rising death toll from extreme weather sends a clear message: when disasters strike, national borders offer no protection,’ said Wang Lei, a professor at the School of Government at Beijing Normal University. As climate risks increase, cooperation between China, the world’s largest developing country, and the EU, the largest grouping of developed countries, has global consequences. Wang stated that in the context of the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, pressure on multilateral climate commitments, and the widening gap between developed and developing countries, China and the EU play an increasingly important role as ‘stabilising forces’ in global climate governance, making stronger climate action essential. Climate cooperation has long been a cornerstone of China-EU relations. In 2025, Chinese and EU leaders reaffirmed their commitment to global climate action, stating that both sides have a strong foundation for cooperation and broad potential for collaboration in the green transition. Nicholas Stern, chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics, argued that China and the EU should work together to provide leadership in global climate governance, including by creating domestic and international environments that encourage investment in the transition to net-zero emissions and climate-resilient economies. He also stressed the need to expand the financing capacity of multilateral development banks so that developing economies can seize the significant investment opportunities offered by the green transition. ‘Further advancing the China-EU Green Partnership will serve the interests of people on both sides while offering new hope for global sustainable development,’ said Zhang Haibin, deputy director of the Institute of Carbon Neutrality at Peking University. With strong commitments from Chinese and EU leaders to advance climate cooperation, the next task is to remove policy and technological barriers and turn broad consensus into implementable projects, Zhang added. China and the EU are pursuing low-carbon development through different approaches, said Hu Bin, a senior lecturer at the Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development at Tsinghua University in Beijing, citing China’s efforts to align climate goals with economic growth, technological progress, and energy security. Meanwhile, the EU has pursued its green transition through carbon pricing, regulation, and standards systems, he said. ‘China and Europe are highly interdependent,’ Hu noted, pointing to new opportunities in areas such as low-carbon standards, hydrogen energy, and energy storage.