As U.S. Retreats, EU and China Seek Climate Leadership at Summit

China and the European Union will seek on Friday to save an international pact against climate change that U.S. President Donald Trump appears to be set to pull out of.

As China emerges as Europe's unlikely global partner on areas from free trade to security, Premier Li Keqiang will meet top EU officials at a summit in Brussels that will also discuss North Korea's missile tests.

In a statement backed by all 28 EU states, the European Union and China will commit to full implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement, EU and Chinese officials said.

The joint statement, the first between the China and the EU, commits to cutting back on fossil fuels, developing more green technology, and helping raise $100 billion a year by 2020 to help poorer countries cut emissions.

"The EU and China consider climate action and the clean energy transition an imperative more important than ever," the statement, by European Council President Donald Tusk, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, and China's Li, will say.

"The increasing impacts of climate change require a decisive response."

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