Hopes of Limiting Global Warming? China and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change

• Published in: China perspectives 2016-01, Vol.2016 (1 (105)), p.49-54
• Main Author: LI, ANTHONY H. F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agreements; Air pollution; Capital investments; Carbon; Carbon dioxide emissions; cefc News Analysis; Clean technology; Climate change; Climate change policy; Climatic changes; Coal; Developing countries; Economic aspects; Economic reform; Emission standards; Emissions; Environmental aspects; Environmental policy; Environmental protection; Gases; Global economy; Global warming; Green economics; Greenhouse effect; Industrialization; Industrialized nations; International agreements; International cooperation; International environmental cooperation; Kyoto Protocol; LDCs; Leadership; Management; Paris Agreement; Participation; Prevention; Renewable energy; Renewable energy sources; Success; Treaties; Weather
• ISSN: 2070-3449; 1996-4617
• DOI: 10.4000/chinaperspectives.6924

Climate change is closely related to the rise of the global economy since the industrial revolution. As scientific evidence shows, the increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is attributable to human activities since WWII, leading to global warming, rising sea levels, and more frequent occurrences of extreme weather. (1) Scientists warned that immediate action must be taken by the international community if we are to stop the globe from warming more than 2oC above pre-industrial levels and avoid catastrophic ecological consequences. The recent Paris Climate Summit from 30 November to 12 December 2015, officially referred to as the 21st Conference of Parties (COP 21) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), was an important part of the international efforts to tackle climate change. Over the past few decades, the international community has been working together to better understand the extent of climate change and what actions are required to mitigate it. These efforts were crystallised in the establishment of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988 with the mandate to assess the state of climate change, and the signing of the UNFCCC in 1992, which laid the foundation for further international cooperation. (2) The Kyoto Protocol in 1997, which required developed countries to reduce greenhouse gas emission, was an historic international agreement on climate change. Nevertheless, it did not bear much fruit without the participation of the United States. For this reason, many observers called for a new international agreement to be reached as a matter of urgency. The COP 21 in Paris was therefore highly anticipated. Prior to the conference, each participant country was invited to make pledges of carbon emission reduction according to their respective capabilities, known as "Intended Nationally Determined Contributions" (INDC). Although some NGO studies doubt the effectiveness of the INDCs to limit the world temperature increase to less than 2oC, (3) the bottom-up approach implied by the concept of INDC is seen as more practical and promising to the climate change problem. (4) As the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases and the world's second largest economy, China has become an important force that heavily influences the failure or success of cooperation on climate change. In the following, I would like to discuss the role of China in the making of the Paris Agreement, the reaso