NYT: China, Europe and Climate Demands - by James Kanter

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China, Europe and Climate Demand - by James Kanter

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao met with European Union officials on Friday morning in Brussels, and while significant parts of the gathering concerned the global financial crisis and human rights, the two sides also signed agreements on forestry and clean power in a further sign of how energy and environment are key components of the global agenda. The forestry measures are designed to reduce demand for illegal timber, said Johannes Laitenberger, a spokesman for José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission. The clean power measure aims to establish a permanent center in Beijing to promote greener technologies, and to assist China in becoming a low-carbon economy, said Mr. Laitenberger. Talking without notes and “from the heart,” Mr. Wen emphasized how the world is increasingly “multipolar” and how the E.U., the world’s biggest bloc of countries, needed to work with China, the fastest-growing country, on issues like climate change.