US-China Climate Cooperation Under Biden: Progress at Risk with Trump’s Return

During the presidency of Joe Biden, climate change had been one of the areas in which the United States and China collaborated. Under Biden’s leadership, the United States resumed its participation in the global initiative to mitigate climate change. Previously, Donald Trump, Biden’s predecessor, referred to the issue of climate change as a plot constructed by the Chinese and a hoax. Consequently, the cooperative institutions between the United States and China were affected by Trump’s stance on climate change. However, the Biden administration reverted to cooperative environment in which both states collaborate to address the grave looming threat posed by climate change.

Biden sought to establish the United States as the global authority in the fight against climate change. During a speech at United Nations Conference of Parties, COP 26, Biden asserted that the US bears “overwhelming responsibility” as a result of its affluence and its status as one of the largest emitters. He recognized that engaging with China was essential to achieve an effective solution to the climate crisis. Hence, his administration effectively re-engaged with China bilaterally to act together to mitigate the issue of climate change.

Biden’s stance of prioritizing climate change led to increased engagement between the United States and China. Both the countries are the largest emitters of greenhouse gas emissions; contributing 45% of total carbon emissions. Hence their cooperation is essential to achieve global emission reduction. Other than this, the US and China together can play an important role at multilateral forums to make global efforts more cohesive. Therefore, the Biden’s administration sought to recognize the importance of collaborating with China on global and bilateral climate initiatives.

In order to re-engage with China for climate collaboration, Biden’s most prominent action was to appoint the US first ever special presidential envoy on climate change. This position was taken by the former U.S. secretary of state John Kerry. Under the supervision of John Kerry, Biden aimed to restore the US global leadership. This step prompted China to appoint climate negotiator Xie Zhenhua back into the position (who had previously collaborated with the US officials during Obama rule). The designation of climate envoys enhanced climate collaboration between the US and China.

The climate envoys commenced a series of climate negotiations between the US and China. Initially, both countries had a history of making agreements prior to the United Nations Conference of Parties (COP).  Therefore, the first meeting between the climate envoys was held in April 2021, when John Kerry traveled to China. This meeting laid the groundwork for a number of joint statements and agreements ahead. After the meeting, a joint statement was released that emphasized action on the commitments made in the Paris Agreement particularly to keep the global temperature well below 2°C. Additionally, the countries also decided to fund green energy for the developing countries.

During the presidency of Biden, climate discussions occurred at multiple levels, involving not just the envoys but also the presidents themselves. Joe Biden’s commitment towards the climate crisis was evident when he held the Virtual Leaders Summit on Climate in April 2021. The summit was attended by President Xi Jingping. In the meeting, President Xi also articulated his willingness to collaborate with the US to advance environmental governance. This summit was followed by another bilateral meeting between the US and China just prior to COP 26.

The US and China set the groundwork for climate negotiations prior to the United Nations Conference of Parties (COP) held in Glasgow in November 2021.  The US climate envoy John Kerry traveled to Tokyo, Japan and Tianjin, China from August 31 to September 3, 2021. John Kerry emphasized on joint climate actions with his counterparts to ensure the success of COP 26. Resultantly, both the US and China agreed to work on the climate crisis at COP 26 despite ongoing diplomatic rifts. Moreover, both countries released a joint statement at COP 26. The joint statement focused on increasing actions to reduce methane emissions in the 2020s. Moreover, both countries agreed to encourage decarbonization and electrification of end-use sectors, and development of technologies like carbon capture use and storage and direct air capture.

Following COP 26, the climate collaboration between the US and China ceased due to geopolitical tensions. All the bilateral meetings scheduled in September were canceled. Resultantly, there was no prior agreement between the US and China before COP 27. According to climate analysts, one of the reasons for failure of COP27 was the non-cooperation between two largest greenhouse gas emitters. The ice was broken between Xi and Biden at the G-20 summit held in November 2022. During this meeting, both the leaders agreed to work together with other countries to address the climate crisis.

The commitment to work together to mitigate the issue of climate change led the US envoy John Kerry to travel to China for resumption of climate dialogue. In the meeting, the US and China decided that they will cooperate on climate change regardless of the other disagreements. The meeting resulted in a joint statement, “Sunnylands Statement on Enhancing Cooperation to Address the Climate Crisis.” The joint statement stated the operationalizing of the Working Group on Enhancing Climate Action in the 2020s. This will accelerate US- China engagement in dialogue and cooperation for climate actions. The Sunnylands agreement paved the way for the success of COP 28 in Dubai.

Continually the commitment for climate collaboration, the US remained engaged with China for climate cooperation. Beijing hosted the meeting of the US-China Working Group on Enhancing Climate Action in the 2020s.   Both sides welcomed the technical and policy exchanges that have been conducted to date. The meeting also called for commitment to strengthen collaborative efforts with other parties at COP29 to be held from 11 to 22 November 2024 in Azerbaijan. But before COP 29, there is a presidential shift in the United States.

The Biden administration’s efforts with China towards mitigating the climate change issue are about to be in vain. The newly elected president of the United States, Donald Trump is a climate change sceptic. During his election’s campaigns, he said that he would withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement, as he did in his first term. Consequently, there will be limited opportunities for US-China collaboration on the climate crisis in the upcoming year of the Trump presidency.

Donald Trump escalated the tensions with China during his initial term as president. Consequently, US-China relations would continue to be characterized by Trump’s confrontational rhetoric during a second term. Additionally, Trump’s isolationist policies will diminish the United States’ status as a global leader. As a consequence, the Trump administration will be less inclined to encourage US-China collaboration on the climate crisis.