US and China Announce Climate Agreement Ahead of Biden-Xi Meeting

The U.S. and China have agreed to ramp up renewable energy sources to displace fossil fuels and tackle climate change, the countries said Wednesday as their leaders met in San Francisco. 

The Details: In a joint statement, officials from the two countries — dubbed “the world’s two largest greenhouse gas emitters” by multiple reports — reaffirmed “their commitment to work jointly and together with other countries to address the climate crisis.” Among other things, the officials pledged to “pursue efforts to triple renewable energy capacity globally by 2030.”

For Context: Climate envoys John Kerry and Xie Zhenhua previously met earlier in November to revive climate discussions. U.S.-China cooperation could have implications for the United Nations’ COP28 climate summit in Dubai later this month. 

How the Media Covered It: Coverage was widespread in left and center-rated outlets, including business outlets, international outlets, and science-focused outlets like Scientific American (Lean Left bias). However, coverage was rare among right-rated outlets; Fox News (Right bias) did not appear to publish a dedicated article on the climate deal by Wednesday afternoon. 

Why the Difference: The U.S. political right has generally framed climate policy as a low priority or even a threat to economic growth, even as the political left promoted it as a necessity; media outlets serving partisan audiences tend to reflect those priorities. However, these trends are not universal, as can be seen in the Washington Examiner’s (Lean Right bias) coverage of this story.