Experts say China and the EU can help stabilize climate diplomacy by expanding green investment, finance and collaboration on low-carbon standards, hydrogen and energy storage.
Extreme weather in Western Europe has highlighted the need for deeper China-EU climate cooperation, experts said, after the region recorded its hottest June this year, with severe heat claiming lives, disrupting power supplies and driving demand for cooling products.
Temperatures in parts of Europe recently exceeded 40 degrees Celsius, while health authorities reported a sharp rise in heat-related deaths during the hottest periods.
Sales of Chinese-made air conditioners also grew strongly in several European markets, reflecting rising demand for climate adaptation solutions as heatwaves become more frequent.
Scientists said the latest heatwave was partly driven by a persistent high-pressure system known as a “heat dome,” while climate change is making such extreme weather events more frequent and intense.
The World Meteorological Organization has warned that a 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 growing toll of extreme weather is delivering a stark message: when disaster strikes, national borders offer no protection,” said Wang Lei, a professor at Beijing Normal University’s School of Government.
Wang said cooperation between China, the world’s largest developing country, and the EU, the largest grouping of developed economies, carries global significance as climate risks intensify.
He said that amid the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, strains on multilateral climate commitments and widening divides between developed and developing countries, China and the EU are playing an increasingly important role as a “stabilizing force” in global climate governance.
Climate cooperation has long been a key part of China-EU relations. Chinese and EU leaders in 2025 reaffirmed their commitment to global climate action, saying both sides had a solid basis 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, said China and the EU should work together to provide leadership in global climate governance.
That should include creating domestic and international conditions that encourage investment in the transition to net-zero emissions and climate-resilient economies, Stern said.
He also stressed the need to expand the financing capacity of multilateral development banks, enabling developing economies to tap into the major investment opportunities created by the green transition.
“Further advancing the China-EU Green Partnership serves the interests of people on both sides while offering renewed hope for global sustainable development,” said Zhang Haibin, deputy director of Peking University’s Institute of Carbon Neutrality.
Zhang said that with Chinese and EU leaders committed to advancing climate cooperation, the next task is to remove policy and technological barriers and turn broad consensus into workable projects.
China and the EU are pursuing low-carbon development through different approaches, said Hu Bin, an associate professor at the Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
Hu cited China’s efforts to align climate goals with economic growth, technological advancement and energy security.
The EU, meanwhile, has pursued its green transition through carbon pricing, regulation and standard system, he said.
“China and Europe are deeply interdependent,” Hu said, pointing to new opportunities in areas such as low-carbon standards, hydrogen energy and energy storage.
