China, the US and how tensions cloud climate change prospects

Name: President Biden signs first-day executive orders for US return to Paris climate accord, WHO and more
Uploaded: 2021-03-06T06:51:22.000Z
Duration: 49 s
Description: President Biden signs first-day executive orders for US return to Paris climate accord, WHO and more

They are the world’s biggest carbon polluters and both need to act to make the fast cuts needed to stop warming the atmosphere

Beijing and Washington have appointed veteran negotiators to but other issues threaten to get in the way

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China and the United States are the world’s two biggest carbon polluters. Photo: Shutterstock

Associated Press

Published: 2:51pm, 6 Mar 2021Updated: 2:51pm, 6 Mar 2021

The world’s hopes for curbing climate change hinge on action by two giant nations whose relations are deteriorating: China and the United States. The two countries both say they are intent on retooling their economies to burn less climate-wrecking coal, oil and gas. But tensions between them threaten their ultimate success.

China and the United States are the world’s No 1 and No 2 carbon polluters, respectively, pumping out nearly half of the fossil fuel fumes that are warming the planet’s atmosphere.

The fast cuts in carbon needed to stave off the worst of climate change are all but impossible unless these countries work together and basically trust each other’s pledges. During the Trump administration, the US used China’s emissions as an excuse not to act, and in the past China pointed to US historical emissions as a reason to resist action.

New details of how quickly China plans to reduce carbon emissions were revealed on Friday with the release of Beijing’s five-year plan. And in April, US President Joe Biden is expected to announce the United States’ own new targets for emissions cuts.

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President Biden signs first-day executive orders for US return to Paris climate accord, WHO and more

The US and China both have appointed veteran envoys – John Kerry and Xie Zhenhua – as their global climate negotiators. But while the two senior statesmen worked well together in laying groundwork for the 2015 Paris climate accord, now they face new challenges.