The Clean Energy Transition in China and the EU

This paper starts by analysing the relationship between energy security and climate change in China. China may have rejected international climate change treaties perceived as potentially capable of impeding its growth. However, China follows a deliberate strategy to convert its energy system with state-driven green growth, trying to move from its current status as one of the biggest emitters of CO2 emissions to one of a clean responsible modern state. China seems also moving from a conventional concept of energy security to a broader one in a world of greater scarcity of resources largely provoked by its own growth. This paper then underlines how China is taking the leadership in the field of massive scale deployment and manufacturing of renewable energy technologies, and also acting on energy efficiency but with mixed success. Some difference and similarities are drawn with the clean energy transition taking place in major European Union countries. This paper concludes on opportunities for the European Union to engage China as a strategic partner instead of viewing it solely as a competitor, as well as the potential disruptions introduced in the energy sector by the accelerated growth of China.

The Clean Energy Transition in China and the EU. Presented at: Conference on EU & the Emerging Powers.

Lemaire, X.M.L. (2013)

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