US-China Joint Glasgow Declaration “follows the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities and takes the difference between national conditions into consideration. It solidifies the foundation of global climate governance”, said Qin Dahe, member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director at the Academic Committee of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

On December 2, global thinkers assembled at the forum of China-US Cooperation on Climate Action during the 2021 Understanding China Conference (Guangzhou), in a bid to untangle the complex relations between the US and China in the field of climate governance, energy transition and technological cooperation as well as carbon pricing and climate finance.

(Photo: Newsgd.com)

Climate change, a crisis and also an opportunity

Cooperation in tackling climate change has been the light at the end of the tunnel of the clouded China-US relations. This year, the two countries jointly released two statements on this issue, namely US-China Joint Statement Addressing the Climate Crisis and US-China Joint Glasgow Declaration on Enhancing Climate Action in the 2020s.

From the perspective of Zhou Dadi, vice chairman of the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy and former director general of the Energy Research Institute under the National Development and Reform Commission of China, collaborative climate efforts, especially in technology development, can be a chance to relieve tensions between China and the US.

Alex Wang, professor at the School of Law of University of California, Los Angeles and faculty co-director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, sees more opportunities that climate change may bring to the two countries. “It’s an economic opportunity to build industries; it’s an opportunity to reduce pollution; and it’s an opportunity to contribute a global public good to other countries.”

According to Shi Dinghuan, former councilor of the State Council of China and former Chairman of China Renewable Energy Society, China and the US begins their energy collaboration in 1980s, which has then facilitated China’s progress in the development of renewable and clean energy and expanded its talents pool in this field.

“It’s a pity that such cooperation has been impeded, particularly at the government level, in recent years,” said Shi.

The US should stop wavering over climate efforts

Although the joint climate efforts between China and the US have been a silver lining of their strained relations, experts still have reservations about the achievements.

“In retrospect, the China-US cooperation in tackling climate change is far from enough.” said Zhou. “With the change of American administrations, there are many plans given up halfway.”

“The US has wavered up and down on its commitments to addressing climate change,” Wang pointed out. He urged countries to “show strong regulatory enforcement mechanisms, adequate transparency” and create accountability for failure to act.

John Milligan-Whyte, executive chairman of the America-China Partnership Foundation, holds the same view. He emphasized the importance of a stable political system to the design and enforcement of plans and believed in China’s capability of designing and maintaining a sustainable climate change regime. “In Chinese civilization, I perceived cooperation and harmony,” said Whyte.

On October 31 to November 13, the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) was held in Glasgow, UK. To ensure the fruits of the conference, Xu Huaqing, Director of the National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation, underlined the urgency to establish a working group on enhancing climate action in the 2020s between China and the US.

“Both China and the US are major victims of climate change,” said Qin. Separation from each other or competition without communication will never work for the two countries, added Zhou.

Author | Lydia Liu

Editor | Keane, Jerry