A hard act to swallow

On July 4, United States President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, implementing and institutionalizing policies that depart from mainstream climate approaches. This major setback to the country's climate policy and action not only hinders the US' energy transition but also once again undermines global climate governance.

According to the Act, the unsecured funding provided by the Inflation Reduction Act for various clean energy plans is revoked. The Act gives the green light to the extraction of coal, oil and natural gas, and delays the collection of methane emission fees from the oil and gas industry. Methane is an important greenhouse gas. The Act targets clean energy, ending the tax credit for electric vehicles. It also sets a deadline for grid connection in 2027/28 (subsidies will be canceled after the deadline). It restricts foreign entities from investing in the US renewable energy market (mainly targeting China).

Fundamentally speaking, the approach of the Act regarding climate and energy issues is not based on scientific rationality and practicality, but entirely on political calculations and considerations. It represents an effort by Trump to give back to and consolidate his political foundation, especially to the leaders of fossil energy interest groups who donated $75 million to his presidential campaign. Perhaps only in the eyes of these people is this Act beautiful.

The US used to play an important role in addressing climate issues. Its leadership was highly anticipated by the international community. The current administration's approach marks a significant departure from previous policy. The second withdrawal of the US from the Paris Agreement and the disruptive anti-climate policies have dealt one blow after another to global efforts to address climate change and triggered a chain reaction in the already fragile global climate governance.

Under the Trump administration, the US is not participating in the United Nations climate talks, such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Hangzhou meeting earlier this year and the mid-year checkpoint for the UN climate governance process held in Bonn, Germany, in June. The administration has also suspended the participation of US scientists in global climate assessments.

The Trump administration has also withdrawn the US from the Loss and Damage Fund that was established to help vulnerable countries cope with climate-related loss and damage. It has also withdrawn from funding agreements that assist countries in reducing coal use.

The five major investment banks in the US have withdrawn from the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (leaving only one US-funded bank). All these actions have undermined confidence in concerted global climate action, striking at the already fragile climate governance and exacerbating the funding deficit.

This has inevitably caused a chain of negative reactions, with skeptical and opposing views on climate change making a comeback, and the issue once again is being stigmatized as a "climate cult".Countries that were originally wavering in their stance on the climate issue have shown greater wavering and even retreat. For example, the Indonesian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia stated that the US exit from the Paris Agreement has made the question of Indonesia staying with the Paris Agreement "a dilemma", and suggested the government would reconsider its stance on the accord. Hashim Djojohadikusumo, Indonesia's special envoy for climate change and energy, also said at a January sustainability forum in Jakarta: "If the US does not want to comply with the international agreement, why should a country like Indonesia comply with it?" The US has transformed from a "climate leader" to a "disruptor".

In addressing climate change, China's role has undergone significant changes in past decades, transitioning from being reactive to proactive, and from being passive to active. In the face of climate change, which is a common challenge and threat to humanity, the Chinese government, industry, academia and research branches are shouldering their responsibilities. They are working hard together to address the challenges.

China reduces global green energy costs through collective efforts and technological innovation. For the first time, the growth in China's clean power generation has caused the nation's carbon dioxide emissions to fall despite the rapid growth in the demand for power. China's emissions were down 1.6 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025. The newly added capacity of solar energy production increased 98 terawatt hours between January and April 2025, a year-on-year growth of 42 percent. China has also become the largest wind power equipment producing country, supplying more than two-thirds of the world's wind turbines, having exported wind turbines to 57 countries.

The systematic transformation of green energy in China is facilitated by the foundation of the rule of law and the technological revolution. For example, in 2018, the goal of establishing an "ecological civilization" was included in the Constitution. Particulate matter pollution decreased by 57 percent from 2013 to 2022. Currently, more than 50 universities have established carbon neutrality related research institutions. China participated in the signing of the Declaration on China-Africa Cooperation on Combating Climate Change and the Beijing Action Plan (2025-27) of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and it carries out cooperation in clean energy and disaster prevention and reduction with countries of the Global South. On June 4, the United Nations World Food Program issued a statement thanking China for providing 1,600 tons of food aid to 50,000 people in southern Madagascar affected by tropical cyclone disasters through the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund. In fact, since 2016, China has contributed $24.5 billion to support other developing countries in addressing climate change.

It is evident that the US lacks the willingness and ability to lead in global climate governance and has even reached the opposite side on this issue. It is hoped that the US will return to the right track on the climate issue. At this moment of transformation, on the one hand, China must be wise and brave enough to take on responsibilities and continue to implement the important instructions on climate governance and ecological civilization construction. On the other hand, based on its current national conditions, China must undertake obligations that are commensurate with its abilities, unite the forces of positive progress in the whole world, and jointly address the climate crisis faced by the mankind.

The author is an associate researcher at the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily. 

Contact the editor at editor@chinawatch.cn.