The European Union (EU) will lead the global action against climate change and wants to deepen cooperation with China, said Andreas Carlgren, Swedish Minister for the Environment, whose country currently holds the EU presidency.

"The EU has already taken the decisions needed to reduce our emissions by 20 percent by 2020, compared to 1990," Carlgren said at a press conference in Beijing on July 13, after talks with Chinese officials including Vice Minister of the National Development and Reform Commission Xie Zhenhua. "But we want to reduce our emissions by 30 percent by 2020, and that means we also want to get others on board so we can really deliver the 30 percent."

The negotiations on climate issues are going too slowly because major developed countries are all pointing fingers at each other for not taking sufficient action, Carlgren said. The EU wants to speed up the negotiations and will take firm actions to reduce its emissions by 20 percent regardless of what other countries do, he added.

China shares the same view with the EU on emissions reduction targets, Carlgren noted. The EU and China will cooperate on technology development, technology diffusion and technology transfer, he said, adding that the EU will provide China with the necessary technology and financial support for its research on ways to tackle climate change.

For example, the EU will establish an EU-China Clean Energy Center in Beijing to help the country shape a more environmentally friendly energy sector. The two parties signed a statement on the project at the China-EU summit in Prague in May.

They will hold further discussions on climate change at their next summit in Beijing toward the end of November, Carlgren said.