China / USA - Climate at stake

Climate change is one of the major challenge that humanity will have to take up during the coming decades. The preparation in 2012 of the 'post-Kyoto' era, where all countries would take up their climate responsibilities, remains the hardest trial. However, all successive international summits did not lead to any constraining agreement between countries. The main reason is the rivalry and dependence relation which links China and the USA. It is now obvious that no major climate decision can be taken without the double determined commitment of these both giants, and so far it is not in their interest to lead by example. This book analyses the freeze of this situation in an historical perspective and identifies some paths of solution to this serious problem. (J.S.)