Cooperation or Competition: US-China Dynamics on Climate Change

Jiwon Nam

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In August 2021, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres declared a “code red” for humanity in the face of human induced climate change (UN News Global perspective Human stories, 2021). Considering how many countries are affected by extreme climate events such as sea level rise and increased number of wildfires, climate change is significantly affecting day to day lives of people on earth. Slow but steady efforts to combat climate change have been facilitated by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Despite continuous effort at the international level, progress toward limiting and reversing harmful effects of climate change has been lacking. One of the reasons that international efforts to combat climate change has been minimal is the inability to draw the collective efforts from key UN member countries. Countries that supposedly are able to bring effective influence to combatting climate change, such as the United States and China, have not been supportive of the global effort. For example, The United States officially became the first nation to withdraw from Paris climate agreement in 2020 three years after then-President Trump announced its withdrawal (McGrath, 2020).

The United States’ uncooperative position on climate change may be changing. When President Biden took office as the president of the United States in January 2021, one of his first actions was to rejoin the Paris Agreement. In the most recent UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP 26) meeting in Glasgow, the United States and China agreed to work together in the fight against climate change. This unprecedented movement towards cooperation from the United States and China indicates that the world’s most powerful two countries still have the potential to work together for the greater good despite their historically hostile relationship. Even so, it is important to recognize that there are still obstacles that potentially impede the full cooperation of the United States and China.