Public-Private Partnerships to Address Global Environmental Problem： Sino-US Cooperation on Climate Change and Energy

The study indicates that public-private partnerships （PPPs） can play ＂strategic＂, ＂practical＂, or ＂regulative＂ roles by making use of ＂instrumental＂, ＂institutional＂, and ＂normative＂ approaches in tackling political issues between countries. PPPs have often been discussed in studies of urban development, service provision, health care, and so on, but they have rarely been analyzed in terms of international relations and political problems on global environmental issues. This study takes an environmental problena---Sino-US energy and climate change cooperation--as a case study to inspect the possible roles and approaches of PPPs. Sino-US cooperation has been launched such as under the Strategic ＆ Economic Dialogue （S＆ED） by both administrations, which has significantly contributed to their reconciliation of domestic abatement policies in climate change, environmental protection, and energy. The establishment of schemes such as the Ten-Year Framework for Cooperation on Energy and Environment （TYF）, the EcoPartnerships, and wide-ranging dialogues and initiatives on clean energy and clean vehicles, in which both public and private actors participate, are among the important approaches of facilitating bilateral cooperation. The study concludes that these schemes have played strategic and practical roles in strengthening the degree of mutual trust and in facilitating the progress of cooperation, although more investigations are needed to considerate their regulative roles. The application of instrumental, institutional, and normative approaches have been observed through the implementation of the TYF and EcoPartnerships.

China and the United States’ Critical Roles in Tackling Climate Change and Shaping the International Regimes

This paper argues that major powers can play critical roles in a complicated regime system,as evidenced by China and the U.S.which have had pivotal influence in the construction of the post-2020 climate regime.China and the U.S.have participated in multilateral consultations beyond the scope of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC)while making use of many political platforms,such as Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC),G20,and informal meetings and dialogues to bridge the gap among various approaches to mitigating climate impacts.China-U.S.bilateral cooperation has incorporated energy and climate issues into the strategic and economic dialogue(S&ED)and launched other schemes,such as EcoPartnerships and wide-ranging dialogues and initiatives on clean energy/clean vehicles.These schemes support the reconciliation of ideas related to domestic abatement policies in the areas of energy,climate change,and environmental protection.Since the Trump administration came to power in 2017,the bilateral cooperation at national level has been retreated significantly and therefore slowdown the UN’s institutional response to climate change.At the stage,the U.S.may not be able to play a critical role in shaping the regime,yet China is regarded to be the most important player in negotiations under the Paris Agreement.

Policy Diffusion of the Emission Trading Scheme in China:Progress and Prospects

Chinese national emissions trading scheme(ETS)of greenhouse gas(GHG)was scheduled to start simulation trading in the power sector in 2020.Now it is good timing to review its progress and prospect.This study first examines policy diffusion in relation ETSs in China and particularly those for CO2 emissions,including the causes,determinants,process,and impacts.It argues in a centralized political system with highly and widely differentiated local circumstances,policy diffusion is progressed through a more complicated process,presented as a three-tier process in the paper,illustrating how international arrangement,national jurisdiction,and local administration interact and influence policy-making in a follower’s jurisdiction.China,which is now the biggest GHG emitter,has been preparing to establish a national ETS since 2017.So far,eight sub-national governments have introduced ETS pilot programs to feedback their experiences and to determine best practice for the national scheme.These eight pilots,especially the relatively successful ones,are found to be motivated by a competitive relationship that aims to stabilize its carbon market,which may eventually contribute to the progress of policy diffusion of the ETS in China.