Common but Differentiated Strategies

The climate policies of China and India have undergone significant changes over recent years. Initially, both bluntly rejected any international mitigation obligations imposed from the outside and held industrialized countries accountable for deteriorating environmental problems. Later, as mounting scientific evidence of the devastating consequences of climate disasters became indisputable and an increasingly number of small island nations, along with Western countries, ratcheted up pressure on Beijing and New Delhi to take more vigorous climate actions, China and India began to adopt more conciliatory and cooperative attitudes toward global climate actions. At the same time, both nations’ evolving climate diplomacy is also driven by domestic realities, such as their rising economic status and growing greenhouse gas emissions. Bureaucratic establishments in the two countries’ political systems play different roles in their respective climate policy-making processes. While Beijing and New Delhi will continue to highlight their developing nation status and push advanced economies to assume the bulk of mitigation responsibilities, both have turned to more flexible policy positions, with Beijing more ready to set more ambitious targets and take on a more proactive role in global climate talks.