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China, the United States, and the European Union
The Paris Agreement would not have come into being had China, the United
States (US), and the European Union (EU), which together contribute more than
half of all global greenhouse gas emissions, not signaled their intent to take
major steps to reduce their domestic emissions. The EU has been at the
forefront of global climate change measures for years having issued binding
domestic emission reduction targets for 2020 and 2030. For many years, China
refused to announce a target date for when it might begin reducing its
greenhouse gas emissions, and the US Congress blocked action on climate
change. In the lead up to the Paris climate negotiations, however, there were
major shifts in China’s and the US’s climate positions. This commentary
examines the climate policies of the three largest emitters and the factors
motivating the positions they took in the Paris negotiations. Given that the
commitments made in Paris are most likely insufficient to keep global
temperature from rising 2 °C above pre-industrial levels, the commentary also
considers what the likelihood is that these three major economies will
strengthen their emission reduction targets in the near future