The US administration sees climate change at the top of its bilateral agenda with China. The expectation is that President Barack Obama will use his upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the APEC summit in Beijing to create momentum for the UN climate talks in Lima in December, and ultimately the international climate conference in Paris next year. Climate change cooperation was a bright spot in US-China relations in an otherwise dark year, dominated by territorial disputes in the South China Sea, cyber spying and democracy protests in Hong Kong. Today, the US and China are in a much better positions to come to an agreement: both sides have taken steps to counter climate change domestically. China is under pressure to react to almost apocalyptic levels of air pollution and its leadership is debating a cap on carbon emissions for its next five-year development plan. In the US, Obama has worked around a reluctant Congress by using the Environmental Protection Agency in an attempt to cut emissions. Both sides have built mutual trust through numerous bilateral initiatives; the Climate Change Working Group is developing projects that range from reducing vehicle emissions to developing smart-grid technologies and enhancing energy efficiency in buildings. Actually, the Copenhagen accord, often described as a failure for its lack of enforceability, has set the groundwork for a more ambitious follow-up in Paris. Unlike the 1997 Kyoto Agreement, the contract was not binding under international law. But while the biggest emitters, the US and China, stayed outside of Kyoto Agreement, they entered the global climate regime in Copenhagen. Furthermore, there is another important body: the Climate Fund, into which rich countries can pledge money to help poorer countries to adapt to climate change. But even though the domestic developments on both sides have been encouraging, doubts remain as to whether they can be translated into a successful global agreement. China shows no sign of backing off from its position, and the challenge for the US side will be to persuade others that further emission cuts will be possible in the face of political resistance to climate change action at home. Obama has taken administrative action through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by setting fuel-efficiency standards for cars and limits for coal-plant emissions, and it is certain that Obama will go into the next climate talks with little political backing. While the US is on the way to reach its target of meeting emissions by 17% below 2005 levels in 2020, there will be doubts as to how much more ambitious it can get without national legislative action on issues such as cap and trade. The next months will show how far the mutual trust built up since Copenhagen can carry the US and China on the road to Paris. The gLAWcal Team EPSEI project Thursadya, 6 November 2014 (Source: China Dialogue)