It Makes Sense Because the US and China are Already Bound Together by Carbon Pollution
Much of China's emissions come from producing the products that Westerners buy. It never made sense to treat such an integrated and global challenge as something that individual nations could tackle on their own: transnational problems call for transnational solutions. That said, emissions won't go down by as much as they need to go down until we in the West start consuming less useless stuff, wherever it is made.
Trade Deals Could Still Trump This Progress
As I argue in the book, free trade deals and World Trade Organization rules are increasingly being used to undercut important climate policies, by blocking subsidies for renewable energy and other supports for the clean energy sector. The mindless expansion of cross-border trade also fuels carbon-intensive consumption and emissions growth, and NAFTA-style pacts bestow corporations with outrageous powers to challenge national policies at international tribunals. Climate objectives could yet be undermined by the US-China deal on high-tech goods, which still has to be approved by the WTO, or by a massive new regional trade agreement like the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Stay tuned...
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