MEP says China a leading country in post-Paris process

During a Wednesday debate at the European Parliament on the results of the 22nd United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP22) recently held in Marrakech, Morocco, Member of European Parliament (MEP) Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy said "China is one of the leading countries in the post-Paris process."

Gathered in Strasbourg for their plenary session, MEPs were examining the progress made at COP22 during which, following two weeks of negotiations, nearly 200 countries were heard on Nov. 18 calling for the urgent implementation of the international Paris agreement on climate agreed upon last December.

Dutch parliamentarian Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy expressed himself to the Strasbourg hemicycle in praising the work of European Commissioner on Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Canete for "the way he works very inclusively for the parliament, but also for the way he is dealing with the other important states in the world and especially for the way you have improved the relationship with China ... which is very encouraging to see."

"At the start of the Marrakech COP I had one hope, that is that the entire world would send a message to Washington that the Paris agreement and the process after that would be irreversible, that the world would move towards this zero carbon economy," said this member of the European Parliament's Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.

"China is one of the leading countries in the post-Paris process, and that is extremely encouraging," he congratulated.

"What happened in Marrakech shows how very well how rapidly the geopolitical scene is changing at the moment," he added.

"Even countries like India seem to be much more determined than they were a few months ago," he specified.

Climate action is "also an economic question," insisted Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy.

"China is investing two and a half times more on clean technology than Europe, as a percentage of GDP it's even four times," he declared.

The MEP judged, however, that "Europe is still leading by example, but we need to be careful. Look at the difficult internal negotiations," he lamented, noting "We have to be extremely careful there. This is also a race on technology and Europe should win that race." Endit