Limiting Climate Change: The Neglected Obstacle

Sensible people now agree that climate change creates major risks and that the world should be taking significant steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But there is a neglected obstacle to achieving such reductions, and it is the biggest source of the stalemate in international negotiations.

The obstacle stems from the unusual incentives of the United States and China. As the world’s leading contributors to climate change, these are the two countries that would have to bear the lion’s share of the cost of greenhouse gas reductions. At the same time, they are both expected to suffer less than many other nations from climate change — and thus are less motivated to do something about it. And while the international spotlight has rightly been on the behavior of the United States, China will soon present the more serious problem.

washingtonpost