EU calls on China to stop building coal plants and contribute to a climate fund for poor nations

BEIJING (AP) — The European Union’s top climate official says that China should stop building new coal-fired power plants and contribute to a global fund to help poor countries affected by climate change. EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra raised both issues in what he called intensive and open conversations in Beijing on Thursday with his Chinese counterparts. The meetings came ahead of U.N. climate talks opening in Dubai at the end of this month. Hoekstra also welcomed recent moves by the Chinese government to begin to address methane gas emissions though he said more needs to be done.