Pathways to international cooperation on climate governance in China: a comparative analysis

Abstract

International cooperation has played a major role in climate governance. With a particular focus on China, this study develops a comparative framework to understand three pathways to international cooperation on climate change: multilateralism, bilateralism and transnationalism. Drawing on cooperation theory, we compare the three pathways in terms of their leaders, organisations, bargaining process, agreement, and enforcement efforts, and analyse their comparative strengths and limitations. We suggest that, given the ever-increasing difficulties and uncertainty experienced in climate multilateralism, the government should pay more attention to developing climate bilateralism and transnationalism in order to leverage the benefits of international cooperation on climate governance.

Keywords:

• Climate governance
• international cooperation
• multilateralism
• bilateralism
• transnationalism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

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Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Early Career Scheme (22604217) and the General Research Fund (12600718) of the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong.

Notes on contributors

Minsi Liu

Minsi Liu is a PhD student at the Department of Geography, Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU). She focuses on understanding the development of international climate governance in China.

Kevin Lo

Kevin Lo is an Assistant Professor of Geography and Associate Director of the David C. Lam Institute for East-West Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU). His main research expertise is in environmental governance and politics. His research is supported by major competitive grants from the Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong, including the Early Career Scheme (ECS) and the General Research Fund (GRF). He has published in many leading journals, including Global Environmental Change, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Energy Policy, Energy for Sustainable Development, Energies, Environmental Science & Policy, Cities, Habitat International, and Journal of Rural Studies.