EU-China environmental cooperation: an institutionalist study

Abstract

The European Union is one of the earliest regions that commits to environmental protection and is also the conventional leader of global environmental governance. China is now in urgent need to govern environment and a key player in dealing with a number of global environmental challenges, including climate change. Since 1981, when the European Union and China began to contact in the field of environment, environment has been rising on the agenda of their bilateral relations. In 1994, the European Union and China established their first institution for environment. With the support of institutions, their environmental cooperation has stepped into width and depth. Today, environment is deeply involved in the Asia-Europe Meeting and the Annual Summit between the European Union and China, and a number of sectoral institutions on environmental policy, environmental technology, climate change, and energy have been established. Meanwhile, a considerable number of environmental projects have been implemented. The institutions do not only assist in the implementation of environmental projects, but also result in new institutions and the construction of the institutional architecture. However, they also experience some limits. Due to the “low-politics” stance of environment in global politics, the European and Chinese leaders are half-hearted to the practical operation of some of the institutions. In addition, these institutions are also ineffective in dealing with issues with conflictual interests involved, such as climate change and environmental technology transfer.