A historic deal, for sure. The first agreement between China and the United States to combat climate change, all right. But what else is behind the agreement between the two world superpowers to reduce CO2 emissions? The question is asked by Assoelettrica's Blog OnOff, which wonders more than anything else if China and the United States are playing against each other, in the intricate game of fighting global warming, or if they are playing together against the rest of the world .
Yes, because the lack of official ratification of the commitments has made many turn up their noses, convinced that the agreement, announced with great pomp, could be more of a media move, a bright and bombastic announcement, but which, in substance , leave things as they are.
According to the agreement, the United States should cut CO2 emissions by between 26 and 28% of 2005 levels, which represent the maximum emissions peak, while China, which as a developing country development claims the right to require differentiated responsibilities, is committed to reducing emissions starting in 2030.
An agreement of high symbolic value, therefore, but which seriously risks having little value in concrete terms. An agreement which, to more expert eyes, seems more like a move to please Europe, which is playing face-to-face in terms of emissions, and to try to dislodge India from its positions, rather tetragonal at the moment, in looking forward to the Paris conference in 2015.
” In short, that of the USA and China – observes On/Off – could seem to be more a media-related action than a concrete one, an action that helps make Europe feel less alone in its commitment to reducing emissions. Wanting to remain in the metaphor of the card game, Europe has already discovered its cards and they are on the table, but the joint US-China action could make India drop some important cards, which for the time being due to climate commitments he wants to hear about it, especially when it comes to commitments imposed from outside (we talked about it here). Meanwhile, the climate conference in Lima (COP20) to be held in December of this year is rapidly approaching and above all the Paris conference in 2015 which should be the scene of an assumption of commitments for all the countries of the world”.
