BEIJING (AP) — China and the European Union have issued a joint call to action on climate change during an otherwise tense bilateral summit in Beijing on Thursday riven with major disagreements over trade and the war in Ukraine.

European leaders are meeting with top Chinese officials in Beijing to discuss trade, climate change and global conflicts.

The European Union and China are preparing to agree a joint declaration on tackling climate change at a summit in Beijing on Thursday, EU diplomats told Reuters. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa will visit Beijing on Thursday and meet Chinese President Xi Jinping,

The International Court of Justice called global warming an “urgent and existential threat” at a closely watched case in The Hague.

On July 23rd, after two years and an unprecedented number of submissions from governments and international institutions, the court delivered a unanimous verdict. In its opinion, climate change constitutes an “urgent and existential threat” that states must protect people from.

The United Nations’ top court has issued a landmark advisory opinion on climate change. The International Court of Justice’s 15 judges considered for the first time what the court’s president calls “a