'Multilateral Process Won't Stop': China, EU Commit To Push Ahead On Climate Without US

Last Updated:June 22, 2026, 21:34 IST

China environment minister Huang Runqiu says global climate cooperation and low carbon transition will continue despite US Paris exit, urges stronger action amid Iran war crisis

China stressed on Monday that international climate cooperation would continue regardless of either the United States or any other countries that choose to step back, as China, the European Union and Canada co-hosted a multilateral climate meeting in Brussels.

“The multilateral process will not stop, or even slow down, because of the absence of individual countries," Chinese environment minister Huang Runqiu told the gathering. He described the world’s low-carbon transition as “irreversible."

He also added, “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."

The meeting came months after US President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement in January. Washington is the world’s second-largest carbon emitter. No other country has followed the US out of the treaty.

The Brussels Committee

The Brussels meeting was co-hosted despite mounting tensions between the EU and China over trade imbalances and Beijing’s dominance of global clean technology supply chains, including solar panels.

Huang also linked the ongoing war in Iran to the case for accelerating the energy transition. “The energy crisis triggered by the war in Iran has made all parties further recognise that green and low-carbon development, guided by the response to climate change, helps coordinate energy transition and energy security," he said.

He warned that global instability demanded stronger, not weaker, resolve on climate policy. “The more turbulent and crisis-ridden the world becomes, the more it tests countries’ strategic resolve and policy determination in advancing climate action," Huang said.

Early data from some countries points to a shift in energy behaviour since the war began. Pakistan has reported a jump in electric vehicle sales since the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran started. However, other nations have moved in the opposite direction, increasing coal and oil-based power generation as they struggle to replace gas supplies disrupted from West Asia.

Emissions Amidst Development

The tension in Huang’s position is hard to ignore. China is the world’s largest CO2 emitter and burns more coal than any other country. At the same time, China leads the world in renewable energy deployment and electric vehicle sales, outpacing every other economy on both counts.

The UN climate negotiations, known as the Conference of Parties (COP), are scheduled later this year. Governments are expected to submit updated national climate plans ahead of the talks. Whether the absence of the United States will weaken the overall ambition of those commitments is a question that is yet to be answered publicly.

The Road To COP31

COP31 takes place at the Antalya Expo Center from 9 to 20 November 2026. Turkey’s Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, Murat Kurum, will chair the conference, while Australia will preside over negotiations, a compromise reached after Turkey and Australia both contested the hosting rights during COP30. A pre-COP meeting in Fiji is scheduled for 5 to 8 October.

The Brussels ministerial is the 10th such gathering since the EU, China and Canada co-founded the forum in 2017 specifically to hold the political centre of the Paris Agreement together between annual COP summits.

With the US now outside both the Paris Agreement and the UNFCCC, ministers at MoCA10 signalled they intend to carry that mandate forward. The UNEP’s Emissions Gap Report projects global temperatures will exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius within the next decade if current trajectories hold.

About the Author

Anoshito Banerjee

Anoshito Banerjee is a digital journalist at CNN-News18, specialising in Indian foreign policy, global diplomacy, South and West Asian geopolitics, and strategic affairs. His reporting spans hard news...Read More

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