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Smoke billows from smokestacks and a coal fired generator in Hebei, China. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

President Biden's climate change diplomacy was in the spotlight this week following the conclusion of the COP26 summit in Glasgow and his virtual meeting with Xi Jinping. Yet for all their promises to take the lead on tackling climate change, the administration’s attempt to 'compartmentalize' climate negotiations with China has in practice meant turning a blind eye to China’s bad behavior in exchange for nonbinding resolutions.

In Politico Magazine [[link removed]], Hudson Research Fellow Nate Sibley [[link removed]] argues that the conventional, left-of-center approach to climate change is failing, and lays out a blueprint for a conservative approach to climate leadership. See below for key takeaways, and join Nate for an upcoming conversation with U.S. Congressman John Curtis, chairman of the Conservative Climate Caucus, on the future of U.S. climate policy [[link removed]].

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Key Takeaways

From Nate Sibley's Politico Magazine op-ed, "How the Next Republican President Can Restore U.S. Leadership on Climate Change"

1. Climate Policy Cannot Be Divorced from Foreign Policy

A Republican global climate agenda should reflect traditional conservative support for a robust foreign policy that prioritizes U.S. interests and values. This would entail, above all, publicly holding China, Russia and other egregious polluters to account—and using America’s economic clout to impose real costs when necessary. More broadly, a GOP approach would jettison the focus on climate as a standalone issue in international diplomacy and instead incorporate it into related efforts on trade, international investment, human rights and security.

Taken together, the pillars of this approach—accountability for polluting countries, helping allies invest in climate-friendly technology and continuing to foster a market-based approach to emissions at home — would integrate climate into the broader U.S. global agenda.

2. Polluters Should Be Subjected to Powerful Sanctions

As overseer of the world’s reserve currency, the United States possesses a uniquely devastating ability to incentivize climate action through sanctions and other forms of economic statecraft. One straightforward way to do this would be expanding the Global Magnitsky program, which targets human rights abuse and corruption, to include instances of serious environmental harm, such as those responsible for China’s dirtiest overseas coal plants and the Maduro and Ortega regimes’ illegal deforestation and strip mining.

3. Use Free Trade to Unlock Green Technology

A Republican administration would focus less on tariffs and other restrictive measures and more on using free trade and investment to unlock green technology. Currently, the focus on regulating fossil fuels out of existence without viable alternatives threatens American jobs, generates higher energy bills and benefits China as it continues to burn coal with abandon. More aggressively reshoring the manufacturing of new green tech to the United States, and “ally-shoring” to deepen trade links with partners will also ensure the economic benefits are shared by the American people and across the democratic world.

Quotes may be edited for clarity and length.

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The COP26 Summit and the Global Age of Shams [[link removed]]

As the climate change summit comes to a close, it’s clear that strategic incompetence and establishment groupthink are a graver threat to the world than CO2, writes Distinguished Fellow Walter Russel Mead [[link removed]] in The Wall Street Journal. COP26 was less about solving difficult problems than helping politicians survive their inability to provide effective leadership on issues that matter.

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COP26’s Unintended Consequences: Pushing Our Allies Into China’s Hands [[link removed]]

China and Saudi Arabia's cooperation over shared concerns was one of the most notable developments from COP26, writes Seth Cropsey [[link removed]] in The Hill. The two countries blocked language concerning emissions transparency, a move which allows Saudi Arabia to prevent insights into Saudi Aramco’s opaque operations and enables China to continue obscuring its economic performance.

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Of Course Biden Didn’t Press Xi at Their Summit: The Feds Are Part of the COVID Coverup [[link removed]]

Evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic resulted from a lab accident at the Wuhan Institute of Virology is close to indisputable, writes Hudson Senior Fellow David Asher [[link removed]] in the New York Post. So why didn’t President Biden call for answers from Xi Jinping at their virtual summit earlier this week?

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