Efforts to tackle climate change are facing "changing political circumstances," but international cooperation must not be "weakened" by leaders like US president Donald Trump, China's Minister for Ecology and Environment, Huang Runqiu, said on Monday.
Speaking on the sidelines of the EU's annual "ministerial on climate action" in Brussels, Huang's remarks appeared to be an indirect reference to the Trump administration's retreat from international climate commitments.
Despite being the world's second-largest greenhouse gas emitter after China, Washington bailed on last year's COP30 in Brazil and quit the Paris Agreement.
"We have a shared responsibility to safeguard commitments and ensure that international cooperation is not weakened by the absence of individual leaders or changing political circumstances," Runqiu said.
The Chinese Minister addressed an audience alongside European Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra and Canadian Minister for Environment and Climate Change Julie Dabrusin, as the trio discussed priorities ahead of the COP31 in Turkey later this year. There, world leaders hope to consolidate political momentum at a time when western and southern Europe are being hit by a severe heatwave.
