Fresh Report Explains How International Climate Treaties Benefit China At America's Expense

A new report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute demonstrates how China takes advantage of international climate treaties at the U.S.' expense.

That classification gives China more leeway and time to come into compliance with international climate standards, while the U.S., a "Developed" country with the largest economy in the world, is tied to more stringent compliance timelines and standards under the same treaties.

"China's status as a developing nation in U.N. treaties has created an unfair advantage over the U.S. and other developed nations," said Ben Lieberman, a senior fellow for CEI and the report's author.

The report details the history of China's "Developing" status in terms of U.N. climate agreements, which traces back to the Montreal Protocol of 1987.

The Senate ratified a subsequent expansion of the Montreal Protocol, known as the Kigali Amendment, in 2022 despite China being granted more lenient compliance timelines and the ability to access financial aid funded by the U.S. and other "Developed" nations.

The same disadvantages caused by China's "Developing" status hold for the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, a U.N. climate agreement focused on greenhouse gas emissions, Lieberman explains in his report.

"It will be many years - if ever - before the U.N. takes action and reclassifies China as a developed nation under any treaty. This is especially true of the UNFCCC, where China can be expected to strenuously defend the significant competitive advantage conferred upon developing nations under it. What is needed now are measures with teeth, ones that disrupt the continued operation of these treaties unless and until China is reclassified." 

https://dailycallernewsfoundation.org/2024/03/13/fresh-report-explains-how-international-climate-treaties-benefit-china-at-americas-expense/