Sino-US cooperation on global warming crucial amid ‘cool’ ties

Global climate governance faces major challenges. Both China and the United States are experiencing the pain and challenges brought about by climate change, and the joint efforts of China and the US are necessary to overcome those challenges.

Global warming surpassed the 1.5 C mark in the 12 months to January 2024, breaching a critical threshold which, if it continues, will push the limits of life on Earth to adapt. The impacts of global warming are becoming increasingly devastating, as evidenced in the more frequent and severe extreme weather events including massive heat waves, long spells of drought, and more destructive floods and wildfires across the world. This will not only cause significant economic losses and create heavy socioeconomic burdens, but also lead to an increasing loss of biodiversity and threaten human life.

China and the US both have played significant roles in addressing the climate crisis. In particular, the two countries worked with France to finalize the landmark Paris Agreement in 2015, setting an apt example of major country cooperation in promoting global climate governance.

In 2021, China and the US issued the Joint Glasgow Declaration on Enhancing Climate Action in the 2020s during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. Both nations pledged to sustain their collaboration and engage with all parties to facilitate the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

However, climate cooperation between China and the US has never been easy. Sino-US climate cooperation has gone through several stages, from no cooperation to a peripheral working relationship to secondary and primary cooperation to peak cooperation during the Barack Obama administration, to “stagnation” during the Donald Trump administration, and to the slow revival of climate cooperation under the Joe Biden administration.

Various major events mark the period since Biden entered the White House in January 2021, during which attempts have also been made to ease political and economic tensions and deepen climate cooperation.

Sino-US climate diplomacy faces challenges both at the macro and micro levels, not only in terms of geopolitical conflicts, but also in manufacturing and sales of electric vehicles and providing after-sales services. True, carrying on cooperation has not been easy for the two sides, but that does not mean they should focus attention on difficulties or spend their energy on blaming one another for those difficulties. If they do so, they will have little or no time to analyze and utilize the factors that can help to promote climate cooperation between them.

Indeed, both parties should emphasize the positive aspects to progress toward a brighter future for their bilateral climate relationship.

First, the political will of China and the US and the establishment of a cooperation framework at the senior level of the two governments have promoted climate cooperation. In November 2023, the leaders of the two countries signed the Sunshine Hometown Declaration in California, which has played a significant role in promoting bilateral climate diplomacy. In fact, in the overall bilateral relations, the communication between and the statements issued by the top leaders of the two countries have had a profound impact on bilateral climate cooperation.

Second, maintaining communication channels and adhering to climate dialogue have been a characteristic feature of Sino-US climate diplomacy. Chinese special envoy for climate change Liu Zhenmin’s visit to the US on Wednesday and Thursday could help the two sides settle some of their differences over climate action and deepen cooperation in energy transformation, reducing methane and other non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions and promoting the circular economy. Not only China and the United States, but also all informed individuals worldwide who are invested in addressing the climate crisis ought to be inspired by this development.

Besides, the US should acknowledge China’s efforts to fight climate change by manufacturing high-quality but affordable EVs, rechargeable EV batteries and solar panels.

In fact, China’s development and growth in the field of EVs have contributed to the low-carbon transformation of the global transportation sector. And as Liu Zhenmin pointed out, other countries can take advantage of the development of Chinese companies in clean energy equipment, batteries and EV production to reduce their emissions and transportation costs.

If the US and the European Union continue making efforts to contain the development of China’s green industries, they will delay the development of renewable energy, and hinder the energy transformation of not only China but also the rest of the world.

Although climate cooperation between China and the US has not been easy to realize, it will, when the two sides coordinate their climate policies, accelerate global climate action and improve global climate governance.