By Michelle Moreno Lira
China is unveiling its five-year Climate Change plan in Beijing this week in hopes of lowering its carbon emissions. The U.S. and China are two of the top emitters of greenhouse gases. Some fear that President Joe Biden won’t be able to come to an agreement with China to help battle climate change after their initial meeting that didn’t change anything.
During Donald Trump’s presidential term, he decided the U.S. would no longer be a part of the Paris Climate Agreement. He began creating tensions between the U.S. and different countries, China being one of them. Now, President Biden must try to find the right approach with China to influence other countries to prioritize climate change over their personal interests.
As Joe Biden promised during his presidential campaign, he plans to battle climate change and follow professionals’ advice to help our environment and planet survive much longer than expected. It’s refreshing to see the president vocally inclined towards these environmental ideals.
The U.S. and China are two influential powers with the platform to encourage other countries to follow their plan in battling climate change. As the top contributors to greenhouse emission gases, they must come together to agree on a plan that will not only lower their emissions but steadily maintain their economy.
This is important because both countries would need to agree on a plan of action to battle climate change and significantly lower greenhouse gases efficiently. According to Isobel Hilton, founder and senior advisor to China Dialogue, China is trying to find new technologies to lower its emissions.
Their efforts are plausible because they’re hoping to become one of the top suppliers of low-carbon goods using low-carbon technologies to raise their economy. It’s also important to understand that China was and is still one of the greatest contributors to emissions before these efforts, ultimately why their contribution to tackling climate change is fundamental.
The U.S. and China must agree on an efficient plan that will slow the rate of our planet’s warming atmosphere. They contribute a generous amount of fossil fuels to the environment, which comes from coal plants within China to boost their economy.
The problem is clear; most countries aren’t willing to shut down coal plants to save the planet because each economy would take a hard hit. This is why they need to invest in creating technology that would help them maintain their lead as suppliers by using clean energy and raising their economy in the process.
Both the U.S. and China are racing to create clean energy and find the technology that would place them at the top of the pyramid. Currently, China is wary of the U.S. because they don’t want to trade the South China Sea because of its valuable resources.
Although President Biden hoped to come to an agreement, both countries aren’t willing to agree because of a constant power struggle. I wonder how more damaged the Earth has to become for both countries to set their personal interests aside.
The development of new technologies would prove to be effective in tackling climate change. Although it’s not a selfless action, our planet can’t afford to wait much longer for us to agree and help fix our mistakes equally.
Michelle Moreno is a fourth-year majoring in English and minoring in Chicano Studies. She is from Downtown Los Angeles.
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How long is our planet expected to survive now?
I just checked the Doomsday Clock . . . it says 100 seconds.
“G’bye suckers!”