My Take | The three largest economies can save the world from climate change

The EU, US and China share the same goal on global decarbonisation, so they should work together even if they fight over everything else

Reading Time:3 minutes

Published: 9:34pm, 29 Mar 2021Updated: 9:33pm, 29 Mar 2021

The West and China may be at loggerheads, but unless they plan on launching a full-fledged cold war or, God forbid, a hot war, they will have to find common ground and make nice at some point. The most obvious place to start, it seems, is global decarbonisation or tackling climate change.

US President Joe Biden has invited his Russian and Chinese counterparts Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping to join an international climate meeting to start on Earth Day, April 22. It’s unfortunate that Biden recently called Putin “a soulless killer” and Xi an “autocrat”. But we are all adults here now, are we not?

There is no better time for three of the world’s largest economies – the United States, the European Union and China – to work together on climate change, whatever their current geopolitical, ideological or economic conflicts. The EU aims to become “climate neutral” by 2050 and China 10 years later.

The Biden White House has not specified a firm deadline, but it is committed to investing in green projects and tightening regulations on decarbonisation. US companies will bear the cost of carbon pollution. Foreign importers will be subject to “carbon border adjustments” (CBAs), essentially a tariff on imported goods based on the amount of greenhouse gases emitted during their production.

Remember CBAs, a key term in what may be the most workable globally coordinated scheme to slow down or halt climate change. If the three largest economies agree to work together, there is an excellent chance of compelling others to follow. How?

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.css-1m2rp1p{color:#34b8b5;}My Take | The three largest economies can save the world from climate change

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} The EU, US and China share the same goal on global decarbonisation, so they should work together even if they fight over everything else

My Take | The three largest economies can save the world from climate change

The EU, US and China share the same goal on global decarbonisation, so they should work together even if they fight over everything else