The Gap of Responsibility - How China and Europe Are Filling the Green Vacuum Left by America

It is a moment of global significance, wrapped in a sober diplomatic formulation: China and the European Union on Thursday committed to a joint climate initiative - with the declared aim of curbing global warming and strengthening the Paris Agreement as "the cornerstone of international climate cooperation." They did not mention the United States by name. But every sentence implied what was meant. For while Washington under Donald Trump has not only reaffirmed its withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement but also dismantled government funding programs for renewable energy, Beijing and Brussels are moving closer together. They are presenting themselves as the new axis of global climate protection - precisely at a moment when many countries are seeking direction and the former leadership claim of the United States is beginning to crumble. The tone of the joint statement is as calm as it is firm: In a "fluid and turbulent international situation," it is crucial that major economies stay the course and "intensify their efforts to combat climate change." Words like a diplomatic seismograph - and a clear signal to a world in which political stability and climate policy reliability have become rare commodities.

Relations between China and the EU are anything but tension-free. The EU regularly criticizes Beijing's ongoing dependence on coal - China burns more of it than any other country in history. In addition, European manufacturers accuse the Middle Kingdom of flooding the world market with cheap electric vehicles. Beijing, in turn, sees the EU's new carbon border tax - which makes Chinese steel exports more expensive, for example - as a protectionist instrument. And on geopolitical issues such as the war in Ukraine, the two sides are also at odds. And yet, in one respect, China and Europe are now coming together. Both acknowledge that climate change is an existential threat - and that in the absence of American leadership, a new responsibility rests on their shoulders. "Despite profound differences, the statement provides a modest but meaningful relief," said Li Shuo of the China Climate Hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute when asked. What makes this rapprochement particularly significant is that it also aims to ease tensions surrounding the global trade in green technology. China has pursued a state-supported strategy for years to establish itself as the world's leading supplier of wind turbines, solar panels, advanced batteries, and electric vehicles. In 2024, the country installed more solar panels and wind turbines than the rest of the world combined. Its electric cars are driving through Milan, Mumbai, and soon São Paulo, while Chinese assembly plants are expanding from Thailand to Turkey - in some cases even in countries like Saudi Arabia.

But this green rise has a gray shadow: the production of these technologies in China itself is highly CO₂-intensive, not least because of the numerous coal-fired power plants that feed the gigantic factories. According to a recent analysis by the specialist platform Carbon Brief, export factories for solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries alone emitted around 110 million tons of CO₂ in 2024. At the same time, however, the same report says the exported products could lead to a global emissions reduction of around one percent - a remarkable net effect. The joint promise by China and the EU also includes submitting new emissions targets before the next global climate summit (COP), which will take place in November in Brazil. The EU Commission has already proposed a 90 percent emissions reduction by 2040 (compared to 1990) - an ambitious target that has not yet been confirmed by the European Parliament. China has so far remained vague about its own targets. Whether the US will send representatives to the COP at all remains unclear. And it also remains to be seen whether the new targets will actually be sufficient to meet the goal of the Paris Agreement - to keep global warming "well below 2 degrees Celsius." But the very fact that this declaration was made is seen by climate expert Kaysie Brown of the European think tank E3G as "a significant and urgently needed signal of renewed leadership - at a moment when global ambition is fading." While the US is slipping out of responsibility, others are filling the vacuum - not out of unity, but out of insight. It is a race against time - and the wind driving it no longer blows from Washington.

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