Experts confident about cooperation between China and U.S. on climate change

Experts confident about cooperation between China and U.S. on climate change

11. März 2021 0 Von Horst Buchwald

Experts confident about cooperation between China and U.S. on climate change
Beijing, 11.03.2021

U.S. President Joe Biden wants to make the fight against climate change a priority. There is huge scope for successful cooperation between China and America in this area, said Sourabh Gupta, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Institute for China-America Studies .
It is „hugely important“ for the world that the United States and China, currently the two main contributors to climate change, work together „to not only try to reduce carbon emissions, but to completely change the economic structure of how we live,“ Gupta told Xinhua.
Gupta expressed his appreciation about the 14th Five-Year Plan of China’s lawmakers. This is because it contains the goal of leaving behind the peak of CO2 emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, he said. He noted that the United States, under Joe Biden, rejoined the Paris climate agreement and made combating climate change a top priority.
„I think both sides have done very well in seeking these opportunities and have made immense commercial and political gains from this process,“ he said. „Considering that China has already started down this path, there is huge scope for economic cooperation and commercial exchanges in these sectors between the United States and China,“ he added.
Moreover, the two sides could set up a whole new paradigm for how carbon trading works and how carbon-intensive goods are traded across borders, the expert suggested. Both climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic require everyone to pull together, he said.
„These are threats that a single country cannot address. Not even a continent can. It requires all parties and stakeholders to work together to find a solution,“ Gupta said.
„It’s important to know that reducing emissions is not free. It requires sacrifice. That’s why change is not easy to achieve. Behavioral changes of this magnitude will be very difficult,“ he cautioned.
On the other hand, environmental awareness brings immense business opportunities. Gupta cited the emerging electric vehicle market in China as an example. „The Biden administration is looking at carbon cleanup and reduction as a business opportunity where huge investments are needed to dovetail green growth and public growth and public investment growth,“ Gupta said.