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From Copenhagen to Paris: 180-degree
turns in US and Chinese policy
A cascade of events took place in the United
States in 2009, the effects of which would not
become manifest until seven years later in 2015.
The first was the election of Barack Obama,
who long before taking office had made clear
his determination to radically change the direc-
tion of environmental and energy policy in the
U.S., a country second only to China in terms of
responsibility for CO2 emissions. Global govern-
ance in this sphere was not only an opportunity
but also a critical objective of Obama’s new road
map for the country. In his 2010 State of the
Union address, the president underlined his
conviction that “the nation that leads the clean
energy economy will be the nation that leads
the global economy”. His proposal, which en-
visaged making the climate agenda the key-
stone not only of the country’s energy policy but
its economic and national security policies as
well, represented a radical shift from the petro-
leum-centred economics and geopolitics
embraced by former president George W. Bush
and neoconservatives and a path towards even-
tual economic convergence. It was a decision
laden with ramifications for economics, geo-
politics and global governance consistent with
Obama’s declared intention to reframe security
in terms of common prosperity.
Nevertheless, the shift towards an energy
transition aligned with environmental steward-
ship would be long in coming. Progress towards
global agreements on limiting greenhouse gas
emissions and the promotion of renewable en-
ergies was painfully slow due the lack of North
American leadership. In June 2009, during
Obama’s first term in office, the Democrat-
controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed
the American Clean Energy and Security Act
(also known as the Waxman-Markey Bill), which
contemplated the creation of a cap and trade
scheme designed to reduce the country’s emis-
sions by about 80 % by 2050. The targets this
bill set out were similar to those established by
the European Union at that time. Although
justifiably criticised as being inadequate by
Global climate and energy
governance: the Paris
Climate Summit
Ana Belén Sánchez and Vicente Palacio