Ahead Of Glasgow Summit, China-US Tensions Could Shape Climate Future
NDTV
COP26 Summit in Glasgow: Experts believe that breakthrough US-China cooperation could be the catalyst for a historic agreement on climate change.
Global momentum is building on the climate crisis but action will be impossible without two nations, China and the United States, which together account for more than half of emissions -- and whose governments don't get along.
Ahead of the COP26 summit in Glasgow, experts believe that breakthrough US-China cooperation could be the catalyst for a historic agreement on climate change -- but also that frosty ties between Washington and Beijing are not, so to speak, the end of the world.
Both nations have stepped up efforts to curb emissions, although analysts say that actions are far too modest to meet a UN-backed goal of keeping the planet's temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and avoiding the worst effects of climate change.
"If the national governments of China and the US are not able to agree on anything of substance, I think there may well be room for serious action anyway, because both countries are able and willing to do a lot on their own," said Mary Nichols, who led major climate initiatives as chair of the California Air Resources Board.
