The global climate governance: a comparative study between the EU and China

By comparing Chinese and European ideas and roles in the process of global climate governance, it is evidenced that both have changed after the ratification of the “Kyoto Protocol”. Although there is a serious divergence between China and the EU regarding their understandings of “the common but differentiated responsibility” principle, the space for cooperation between them is expanding, especially after the signature of the “Paris Agreement”. This result comes not only from China’s persistent improvement of its cooperative willingness and capacity, but also from the EU’s leading role in collaborating with emerging countries like China towards global climate governance, as well as its ambition at the domestic level, established in the European Green Deal.