U.S., CHINA FORGE CLIMATE CHANGE WORKING GROUP

Tamar Hallerman
GHG Monitor
4/19/13

The U.S. and China vowed to work together to accelerate efforts to address climate change over the weekend, jointly releasing some of their strongest language yet about the need to elevate the issue as a high priority moving forward. Citing the “increasing dangers presented by climate change” and the “inadequacy of the global response,” the governments of both countries said April 13 that they have created a ‘Climate Change Working Group’ that in the coming months will aim to “advance cooperation on technology, research, conservation and alternative and renewable energy” ahead of the high-level U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue meeting this July. The group will make recommendations focusing on current cooperative efforts related to climate change and how to “enhance” such efforts, the State Department said.

In a joint statement, the U.S. and China said that as the world’s two largest emitters, they must lead the world by example on climate change action. “Both sides recognize that, given the latest scientific understanding of accelerating climate change and the urgent need to intensify global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, forceful, nationally appropriate action by the United States and China—including large-scale cooperative action—is more critical than ever,” the two said in the joint statement. “Such action is crucial both to contain climate change and to set the kind of powerful example that can inspire the world.” The two countries said U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern and Xie Zhenhua, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, would co-chair the working group.

‘Send a Signal to the World’

The agreement came during Secretary of State John Kerry’s first official tour of Asia. During an appearance with Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi in Beijing April 13, Kerry underscored the need for the U.S. and China to act together. “China and the United States represent the world’s two biggest economies, we represent the world’s two largest consumers of energy and we represent the two largest emitters of global greenhouse gases. So if any two nations come to this table with an imperative for action, it is us,” he said. “We are more than 50 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. And what the United States and China decide to do with respect to this, whatever energy initiative we embrace together … will send a signal to the world about how serious we are about this.”

While the U.S. and China already discuss climate change through multiple international forums—most prominently the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Major Economies Forum—some observers noted that the creation of the working group is notable because of the strength of the language both countries used to describe the problem at hand. “This is potentially a very significant development, coming as it does from the world’s two biggest economies and greenhouse gas emitters,” Union of Concerned Scientists spokesperson Alden Meyer said in a statement. However, he clarified that “the proof of the pudding, of course, will be in the details of the ‘large-scale cooperative action’ that the two countries develop.”

Others said they were not as optimistic about the working group’s potential given the previous failures of the U.S. and Chinese governments to hammer out some sort of deal on concrete emissions reductions. “I’m not holding my breath,” Dan Kish, senior vice president for policy at the Institute for Energy Research told GHG Monitor. “Hope springs eternal from such things, but in reality the business deals being done daily in the private sector between the United States and China are probably much more significant than governmental agreements.”

Countries Step Up Rhetoric, Despite Past Scuffles

In past climate-related negotiations, most notably under the UNFCCC, the U.S. and China have frequently reached stalemates regarding each country’s role in mitigating past and future greenhouse gas emissions. While the U.S. has continually refused to agree to legally-binding emissions reduction targets if China and other large emitters do not do the same, China has alleged that the U.S. has historically been the largest CO2 emitter and should subsequently take on more proportional reductions to reflect that. Both countries did, however, sign onto the UNFCCC’s 2011 Durban Accords, under which both countries agreed to eventually take on legally-binding reduction targets beginning in 2020.

The agreement comes as both countries have modestly stepped up their rhetoric about combating domestic climate change. During his inaugural and State of the Union addresses this year, President Obama vowed to make climate change a priority in his second term, but in subsequent months has been thin on specifics. Meanwhile, China has begun rolling out a cap-and-trade pilot program in seven major cities and provinces. There has also been widespread speculation of the government implementing a modest tax on carbon, but officials in recent months have walked back those comments.