US-China Climate Diplomacy: Picking Up Where We Left Off

The US Special Envoy on Climate Change, John Kerry, visited China from July 16 to 19 to meet Chinese officials. The four-day official visit was aimed at continuing the frozen climate cooperation between the two countries. Unfortunately, no new agreements were made during the  anticipated talks. Relations between the two started to freeze following the visit by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan in August 2022. China cancelled a planned working group that was supposed to conduct its first meeting the following month. This has cost the climate cooperation between the two superpowers. Long before this happened, in a 2021 press conference, Zhao Lijian, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, stated that “I’d like to stress that China-US cooperation in specific areas, unlike flowers that can bloom in greenhouse despite winter chill, is closely linked with bilateral relations as a whole.” Meanwhile, the US hopes that “..we will leave other issues aside.” said Special Envoy Kerry. 

To name a few of the growing rifts between the two countries are the geopolitical tension in the Indo-Pacific, the US meddling in the Xinjiang issue, and the US’ plea for an international probe into the origins of Covid-19. However, it is also interesting to note that some officials from both countries argue that climate diplomacy, as it is less confrontational in comparison with other foreign policy agenda, can help the two in forging closer relations.

The US and China are the world’s two biggest carbon dioxide emitters. Today, China is responsible for almost a third of global emissions, more than all other developed states combined. Meanwhile, the US has the largest share of historical emissions since 1850. This takes us to the renowned debate on climate justice. Some argue that the Global North should assist the Global South in climate change mitigation and adaptation. Looking at the sum of the country’s contribution over time, The US has been contributing to carbon dioxide emissions since the Industrial Revolution, while China, in comparison with the US, has only been ‘recently’ polluting the world, ranked number 3 behind the US and the EU. The idea is that the most responsible party should put the most effort into tackling climate change. In addition to proportionality, the disparity among states' capabilities in responding to climate change is also eminent. The least responsible states are the ones hit the hardest as they  do not have sufficient resources to address the effect of climate change. 

In retrospect, the US’ commitment to climate change issues has been heavily influenced by its changing government. Under the Obama administration, US-China cooperation heightened at the Paris Agreement. Unfortunately, it came to an end as Obama’s successor, President Trump decided to pull out of the deal. On the other hand, China’s commitment has been quite consistent throughout the years. Starting to coordinate its climate change policy in 1988, China’s position is often opposite that of the US. China believes in “common but differentiated responsibilities”. In COP15 in 2009, China advocated the need for a more ambitious emission reduction goal for the developed countries and for them to provide financial assistance to the developing countries. 

It is also important to note that investing in climate change initiatives is not that simple. At the domestic level, the government has to balance the pressure coming from civil society and the interests of the business sector. The former calls for a more sustainable economic model while the latter calculates that replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy is  a costly move. Meanwhile, it is also interesting to see that at the international level, it does not matter which country works the hardest to cut carbon emissions, the benefit can be enjoyed by everyone. This free-riding tactic does not provide enough incentives for countries to go out of their way in the climate change initiative. 

In conclusion, taking into account the US historical emissions and China’s energy emission rate, the world is expecting a more fruitful discussion coming out of US-China climate change diplomacy. Unfortunately, the two countries' positions are often in contrast with each other. Washington’s commitment relies heavily on the ruling government, which raises China’s suspicion and consequently  harms the mutual trust. Meanwhile, Beijing likes to remind its counterpart that climate change diplomacy cannot be discussed in isolation from the state of their bilateral relations.