U.S. President Joe Biden shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping before their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit, November 14, 2022, in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia. Credit: Alex Brandon via AP Photos
The Biden administration has sold its key policies on climate change with a singular premise — that the U.S. needs to “outcompete China.” This has sparked long overdue investments at home, but zero-sum competition — where each side measures success by their position relative to the other — holds potentially disastrous consequences for the climate.
The planned resumption of dialogues on climate between the two countries following the first in-person meeting between Presidents Biden and Xi this week is a positive sign. And with both sides eliciting an open embrace of industrial policy, leaders in Washington may find elusive common ground with Beijing to move forward on climate issues.
A new model for U.S.-China engagement on climate should look to facilitate a more enlightened form of competition in low-carbon technologies. Both sides' priority should be to minimize the material harm caused by tariffs and other bilateral tensions on emissions reduction efforts
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