Leading the Global Race to Zero Emissions: A New China-U.S. Climate Agenda

The international community is now acutely aware of the negative global impact of climate change. But efforts to advance global climate agendas will not go far without China and the United States leading the way, given the two major powers’ sheer economic size, global influence, and contributions to greenhouse gas emissions. A growing consensus is that China and the United States share common interests in promoting a global transition toward a carbon-free future. China-U.S. climate cooperation may also encourage other major carbon emitters to shoulder greater international responsibilities and help advance a global low-carbon agenda. This article previews the Biden administration’s climate and energy policies, analyzes the state and impact of China-U.S. interactions in climate governance and energy transition, and presents a set of policy recommendations on how to build trust and increase cooperation between the world’s largest economies and carbon emitters. Washington’s green recovery-centered climate plan will not go far without advancing international cooperation in industrial restructuring, infrastructure investment, emerging key resource development, and market demand. Likewise, Beijing’s ambitious goals of peaking carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060 will also be difficult to attain if it cannot accelerate green economic growth at home and shoulder the joint leadership of climate governance abroad. In this context, China-U.S. climate cooperation and joint efforts toward carbon neutrality could serve as an icebreaker for the current frosty bilateral relationship.