Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Obama, seen here during a ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, announced pledges to reduce greenhouse gases.; Credit: NPR — HUANG JINGWEN/Xinhua /Landov
The unexpected deal was announced yesterday out of the Asian-Pacific Economic Summit in Beijing, and apparently was negotiated in secret over the course of nine months. For the US, it means reducing emissions by up to 28 percent in 2025. China, for its part, has agreed to reach peak carbon emissions by 2030, the first time the country has agreed to such a limit.
Touted as a historic deal, how unprecedented and important is it really? How would cuts be achieved in the US and in China? Would a GOP-led Congress make the US part of the deal difficult to achieve?
Guest:
Janet Redman, climate policy program director at the Institute for Policy Studies
Joanna Lewis, an associate professor of Science, Technology and International Affairs at Georgetown University whose research focuses on energy, environment and climate change policy in China. She is the author of “Green Innovation in China” (Columbia University Press, 2012)