China Environmental Law

The Good
During the first six months of 2009, Beijing experienced its best air in a decade.  Although just how good Beijing’s air is in an absolute sense remains in dispute (for all things Beijing Air, your indispensable source is livefrombeijing), there seems little reason to doubt that air quality has improved on a relative basis [...]

[Read more →]

Although it was initially reported that China “welcomed” the passage by the US House of Representatives of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), it has quickly pulled up the “Welcome” mat.  A Xinhua article, which could have been written by Pan Jiahua, ridicules and lambasts the House bill.  The US “fell short of [...]

[Read more →]

There was a flurry of stories this weekend that reported as breaking news the fact that US climate envoy Todd Stern was not seeking an absolute cap on carbon emissions from China.  I was a little surprised by these reports because to the best of my knowledge Stern has never stated he was seeking such [...]

[Read more →]

We haven’t focused too much here at CELB on the demand of developing countries, with China as a vociferous cheerleader, for “technology transfers” from developed to developing countries as part of a Copenhagen deal.
We have noted that during Todd Stern’s recent visit to China he apparently agreed with his Chinese counterparts to establish a “joint [...]

[Read more →]

In our continuing effort to provide you with every little shred of information released about the recent visit of US climate negotiator Todd Stern to Beijing, here is a portion of the transcript of Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Qin Gang’s Regular Press Conference on June 9, 2009 which touches on the topic.

Q: The US climate [...]

[Read more →]

Maybe its just the gloomy Shanghai weather or maybe it’s the fact that little progress was reported in the talks between Todd Stern and Xie Zhenhua that is making me pessimistic about the possibility of a climate deal between China and the US.
As Stern’s visit to China was wrapping up, China Daily was reporting that [...]

[Read more →]

The public pronouncements weren’t encouraging, but perhaps the private discussions are getting somewhere.  The only story I have seen is one from Xinhua which at first blush only contains bland platitudes and the obligatory sit and chat picture.
The story reports on a meeting between Todd Stern and Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang.  Here are the [...]

[Read more →]

Todd Stern (quoted by Bloomberg):
“I don’t think that there’s any question that China and the other major economies have to be in the game,” Stern said today on a conference call with reporters. “They’re doing a lot already, but they’re going to need to do more actions and commit to them and be able to [...]

[Read more →]

Where does  last week’s flurry of climate change discussions between China and the US leave us?
By the end of the week, Kerry was sounding upbeat.  As the Guardian reported he said “he was hopeful that an agreement can be reached after what he described as the ‘most constructive and productive’ talks he has had with China [...]

[Read more →]

If the Chinese side has presented a confusing face to the public, the Americans have not been models of consistency either. 
Presumably, the US is offering a commitment at Copenhagen similar to the reduction goals set forth in the Waxman-Markey bill ( the “American Clean Energy Security Act,” hereinafter ACES).  These come no where close to [...]

[Read more →]