EU wants to see China taking more ambitious climate action

The world needs China to show more leadership on climate action, EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said on Sunday, highlighting the importance of cutting planet-heating emissions and reducing the Chinese economy's reliance on coal.

Hoekstra is in Beijing for high-level talks with Chinese officials on environmental and climate issues at which he also wants to encourage China to stop building new coal-fired power plants and phase out use of the fossil fuel.

"We do encourage China to take more of a leadership role going forward and really hit the road with meaningful emission reductions in the next couple of years, and also move out of the domain of coal," Hoekstra told Reuters in an interview.

The number of coal power plants in the pipeline has been increasing in China - the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter, according to the World Economic Forum.

In the first three months this year, China's approved 11.29 gigawatts (GW) of new coal power plants exceeded the approval rate in the first half of 2024, a June report by environmental group Greenpeace showed.

Last week, Hoekstra told the Financial Times the EU was holding off on signing a joint climate declaration with China unless Beijing pledges a greater commitment to reduce emissions.

"We are open to looking into a potential declaration, but ... the thing that is most important about these types of statements is the content that goes into it," he said when asked about the issue, without specifying what commitment the EU hopes to see from China.

Hoekstra said the EU is interested in seeking areas of cooperation with China ahead of the COP30 U.N. climate conference that will be held in Brazil in November.