At COP26 summit in Glasgow, China-US tensions could shape the world’s climate future

Hopes of superpower competition spurring the two nations in a ‘race to the top’, pushing each to outdo its rival in climate action

With so many areas of tension between Washington and Beijing, a multilateral process such as COP26 may be more effective than bilateral talks, says observer

3-MIN READ3-MIN

China and the United States account for more than half the world’s emissions. John Kerry, the US climate envoy, has travelled twice to China but there remain concerns Beijing will use climate action as leverage. Photo: AP Photo

Published: 6:45pm, 11 Oct 2021Updated: 5:10pm, 31 Oct 2021

Global momentum is building on the climate crisis but action will be impossible without two nations, China and the United States, which together account for more than half of emissions – and whose governments do not get along.

Ahead of the COP26 summit in Glasgow, experts believe that breakthrough US-China cooperation could be the catalyst for a historic agreement on climate change – but also that frosty ties between Washington and Beijing are not, so to speak, the end of the world.

Both nations have stepped up efforts to curb emissions, although analysts say that actions are far too modest to meet a UN-backed goal of keeping the planet’s temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and avoiding the worst effects of climate change.

“If the national governments of China and the US are not able to agree on anything of substance, I think there may well be room for serious action anyway, because both countries are able and willing to do a lot on their own,” said Mary Nichols, who led major climate initiatives as chair of the California Air Resources Board.

“But that doesn’t mean that it’s irrelevant,” she said. “Without an explicit agreement, other countries will be reluctant to act.”

US President Joe Biden’s administration has described Beijing as his country’s top long-term challenge and raised pressure on concerns from human rights to Taiwan to trade, but has sought engagement on climate.