November 11, 2021
The joint agreement between the United States and China on “enhancing climate action” was rightly seen as a step forward — but, for now, a very small step. It did not have the kinds of specific targets that marked the 2014 agreement negotiated by the Obama administration that preceded the Paris accords. But it did suggest the resumption of serious dialogue between the world’s two largest economies and largest emitters of greenhouse gases — which would explain why so many nations felt the statement gave new energy to climate action.....