This bilateral initiative comes on the heels of a decade in which America abstained from international efforts to address climate change, concerned that if it acts but China doesn’t, the world will fail to meet its emission-reduction targets and US industry will be disadvantaged. China has countered that its historic and per capita emissions remain well below US levels, and that to cap aggregate national emissions at the same level as the US would imply a personal carbon budget in San Francisco five times greater than in Shanghai.
在双边采取主动之前，有整整十年美国避免参与国际间处理气候变化的尝试，担心如果它采取了行动而中国按兵不动，世界就无法实现减排目标，美国的工业也会陷于不利之境。中国则反击说它的历史和人均排放量都远远低于美国水平；就算把国家的总排放水平和美国拉平，旧金山的人均碳预算也比上海高出五倍。