Pathways to international cooperation on climate governance in China: a comparative analysis

International cooperation has played a major role in climate governance. With a particular focus on China, this study develops a comparative framework to understand three pathways to international cooperation on climate change: multilateralism, bilateralism and transnationalism. Drawing on cooperation theory, we compare the three pathways in terms of their leaders, organisations, bargaining process, agreement, and enforcement efforts, and analyse their comparative strengths and limitations. We suggest that, given the ever-increasing difficulties and uncertainty experienced in climate multilateralism, the government should pay more attention to developing climate bilateralism and transnationalism in order to leverage the benefits of international cooperation on climate governance.

Automated summary

International cooperation plays a key role in climate governance. This study compares multilateralism, bilateralism, and transnationalism in terms of their strengths and limitations, and suggests that governments should focus more on developing bilateralism and transnationalism in the face of increasing challenges in climate multilateralism.