Climate change has become a key concern for China in recent
years, as evidenced by its pledge to reduce carbon emissions per
unit of GDP by 60% from 2015 levels by 2030. As we have previously
written, it has also become a leader in the
emerging field of green finance, and the world leader in
installing renewable energy capacity. Moreover, climate change has
become one of the few areas in which China has taken an active role
on the international stage,
promoting green finance at the G20 summit in Hangzhou last
year, and joining the United States in championing
the Paris Agreement.
Meanwhile, climate change continues to be highly controversial
in the US, and the future of the Clean Power Plan – the Obama
administration's primary domestic policy to address it –
remains uncertain. President Donald Trump, who took office on
January 20, 2017, has expressed skepticism regarding climate
change, and has stated that he will seek to repeal the Clean Power Plan. In
