Recent developments threaten to undermine the UN’s multilateral governance platform, which could lead to a hollowing out or fragmentation in the Paris Agreement’s implementation. An intensified debate is coming over ideology, justice and responsibility.

China and the United States recently issued a joint declaration on climate action, bringing hope for one of humanity’s most pressing problems and adding momentum to the global low-carbon transition.

The country’s self-sufficiency rate has stayed at around 80 percent, but as it transitions to lower carbon, issues affecting energy security are becoming more prominent. Underlying these are structural problems, starting with high dependence on overseas energy.

I don’t know if it’s by accident or design but the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, and the G-20 Summit that preceded it in Rome, were scheduled around Halloween and the Day of the Dead. Most governments seem afraid to face the existential challenge of climate change and are more spooked by an army of highly-paid lobbyists than by an infinitely more powerful Mother Nature. At the same time, however, promising innovations coming from NGOs and a core of socially responsible companies offer a slim glimmer of sunshine amidst the gloom.

Modern eco-civilization based on harmony between humanity and nature is the way of survival — the way for humankind to effectively cope with the climate crisis and achieve climate security in the 21st century.

The planet is heating up – and so are global geopolitics. With less than two months until the crucial United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, the United States and China must commit to cooperate on the existential challenge global warming represents. But bilateral relations remain burdened by mistrust, antagonism, and even warmongering.

President Trump’s controversial move last year to withdraw from the Paris Treaty leaves a leadership vacuum in the U.N., which China has readily stepped in to fill. But can China be trusted with this responsibility?

With the sudden bang of a gavel Saturday night, representatives of 195 countries reached a landmark climate accord that will, for the first time, commit nearly every country to lowering planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions to help stave off the most drastic effects of climate change.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is attending the opening session of a major United Nations climate change conference here, met with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama on Monday, discussing issues from bilateral ties to climate change talks.