Climate Change, International Climate Cooperation Regime And China's Policy

Environmental issue is caused by human beings in pursuit of short-term material benefit. After the industrial revolution, especially since the 1970s, humanity exerts a greater impact on the environment. And Climate change as a global environmental problem has become a hot issue in international politics. After the Cold War, climate change as a non-traditional security threat and global environmental issue in international affairs has attracted more attention.The rising temperature, melting of glaciers, sea level rise, extreme weather events, the frequency of hot waves, climate anomalies lead to changes in animals' and plants' living habits and result in biodiversity reduction. Climate change poses a threat to both human health and social sustainable development.International cooperation is needed to curb global warming trend. "The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change" and the "Kyoto Protocol" consist of the basic framework of the international climate cooperation regime. The signing of the two agreements marks two milestones in international cooperation to address climate change issue. However, the international climate cooperation regime faces many problems to be tackled. The "Kyoto Protocol" is a crucial international legal document of climate cooperation, but it is not perfect, with some defects in it. The United States, Japan, European Union, Russia and China play a very important role in global climate cooperation.Sovereign state is the leading force in climate cooperation, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) promotes the international scientific research and international climate cooperation with four reports.Around the world, the response to climate change has become a test of a state's leaderships in terms of decision-making ability, diplomatic capacity, and coordinating capacity. Energy-saving and greenhouse gas emission reduction measures are scientific and feasible to mitigate climate change. Global emission reduction effect is largely depends on the enforcement of the Kyoto Protocol. Since the commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol is from 2008 to 2012, the negotiations on emission reduction division after 2012 continue, and all major powers struggle to protect their national interest. China, India, Brazil and other quickly growing developing countries face more pressure from the developed countries. Anyway, "common but differentiated responsibilities" principle is the basis of international climate cooperation. China will continue to adhere to this principle and strengthen cooperation with other developing countries.How to respond to climate change influences a Government's political life, economic development outline, as well as people's living and consumption patterns.The thesis focuses on analyzing major powers relationships, China's participation in international climate cooperation regime. We can see China's role as a responsible great power in addressing climate change issue.