China and the United States’ Critical Roles in Tackling Climate Change and Shaping the International Regimes

This paper argues that major powers can play critical roles in a complicated regime system, as evidenced by China and the U.S. which have had pivotal influence in the construction of the post-2020 climate regime. China and the U.S. have participated in multilateral consultations beyond the scope of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) while making use of many political platforms, such as Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), G20, and informal meetings and dialogues to bridge the gap among various approaches to mitigating climate impacts. China-U.S. bilateral cooperation has incorporated energy and climate issues into the strategic and economic dialogue (S & ED) and launched other schemes, such as EcoPartnerships and wide-ranging dialogues and initiatives on clean energy/clean vehicles. These schemes support the reconciliation of ideas related to domestic abatement policies in the areas of energy, climate change, and environmental protection. Since the Trump administration came to power in 2017, the bilateral cooperation at national level has been retreated significantly and therefore slowdown the UN’s institutional response to climate change. At the stage, the U.S. may not be able to play a critical role in shaping the regime, yet China is regarded to be the most important player in negotiations under the Paris Agreement.