Skip to main content
Support
Article

CEF Director Jennifer Turner Quoted in U.S. News & World Report Article on China's Commitment to Reducing Carbon Emissions

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the White House on Thursday may seem like just another in a long line of general diplomatic meetings where much is discussed but little is resolved​​​​​​​​​​​. But behind closed doors the Obama administration has built a stable diplomatic relationship with China that shows no signs of collapsing, experts say, even as the discussion between the two superpowers becomes increasingly blunt.

CEF Director Jennifer Turner Quoted in U.S. News & World Report Article on China's Commitment to Reducing Carbon Emissions

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the White House on Thursday may seem like just another in a long line of general diplomatic meetings where much is discussed but little is resolved​​​​​​​​​​​. But behind closed doors the Obama administration has built a stable diplomatic relationship with China that shows no signs of collapsing, experts say, even as the discussion between the two superpowers becomes increasingly blunt.

China’s pledge to work with the U.S. to reduce carbon emissions with the aim of preventing climate change is one the top examples of diplomatic progress, says Jenn Turner, director of the China Environment Forum at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. China in November pledged that its carbon emissions will peak by 2030 -- a significant commitment considering it draws about 80 percent of its electricity from coal. China is investing more in renewable energy not just to show its commitment ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in December, but to counter the “serious air pollution” in its cities, Turner says.

“We see China as the number one in wind energy and they are soon going to surpass Germany in use of solar panel energy,” she says.


China Environment Forum

Since 1997, the China Environment Forum's mission has been to forge U.S.-China cooperation on energy, environment, and sustainable development challenges. We play a unique nonpartisan role in creating multi-stakeholder dialogues around these issues.  Read more