Trump, who does not accept the scientific consensus on climate change, has claimed that climate change is a “hoax” created by the Chinese to make the United States less competitive in global markets. He has called the Paris climate agreement “bad for business” and falsely claimed that it allows “foreign bureaucrats control over how much energy we use.” In reality, the Paris agreement is built off of a set of independently decided national contributions, meaning each country is able to decide exactly how it will reduce its carbon emissions. Moreover, proponents of the deal argue that it will spur investment in green energy and create jobs in countries that remain within the agreement.
Unlike Trump, Xi seems to understand the economic potential latent within the Paris agreement. In his speech at Davos, he championed the idea of globalization, calling the global economy “the big ocean you cannot escape from.” Xi also praised innovation, calling on the world to “develop a dynamic, innovation-driven growth model.”
Xi’s remarks come just weeks after China announced that it would be investing $360 billion into clean energy, a move that the Chinese National Energy Administration expects will create 13 million jobs by 2020. In the United States, meanwhile, Trump has promised to cut all federal funding for clean energy research and development.
The Full Story (January 17, 2017)
The Full Story (January 17, 2017)
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