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Opinion | US-China summit in Alaska shows road to fighting climate change is paved with political minefields
- Is it possible for diplomats on the one hand to fervently criticise their counterparts and on the other hand, drop the animosity when it comes to dealing with climate change?
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The world needs more diplomacy and less chest-beating.
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There is agreement climate change presents an existential threat to mankind. Thus, despite the wide range of disputes between the United States and China, the United Kingdom and China, and between the European Union and China, they agree they should cooperate to decarbonise substantially within the next three to four decades. Yet, the extent to which governments can work together remains an open question.
The UK will play host to the UN conference in Glasgow on climate change in November, referred to as COP26. As the host country, the UK’s role includes rallying others to follow the Paris Agreement, a multilateral treaty on climate change agreed to in 2015.
The British prime minister and Chinese president spoke to each other last year, and confirmed they both wanted COP26, originally scheduled for 2020, to be a success. However, China, though invited by the British host, did not participate at the virtual ministerial conference on climate and development on March 31. China’s absence was likely due to a deterioration in relations between Britain and China on many issues, including Hong Kong over the national security law passed last year and Beijing’s recently proposed electoral changes.
Thankfully, ministers from the EU, Canada and China did co-convene their annual gathering on climate change on March 23, a trilateral arrangement they started in 2017 to show their commitment to the Paris Agreement.
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China vows carbon neutrality by 2060 during one-day UN biodiversity summit
China vows carbon neutrality by 2060 during one-day UN biodiversity summit
As of now, China is expected to participate at the live-streamed Leaders Summit on Climate on April 22-23 called by US President Joe Biden, who was vice-president in 2014-15 when US-China cooperation helped to bring the nations of the world to sign on to the Paris Agreement.
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