For The Week, I take a look at the U.S.-China climate agreement that was struck in Beijing yesterday evening, with pledges for emissions cuts by the United States and a target for peak emissions by the Chinese. The agreement, culminating after a year of negotiations spearheaded by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, aggressively sets the agenda for the United Nations climate talks in Paris next year. While a lot of details remain to be finalized, the bottom line conclusion about the deal itself is positive:

But it is difficult not to be optimistic coming out of today. For the Chinese to completely change its position is an excellent first step in what will now be a long road to Paris in 2015, where the global community will once again try to hammer out an international climate change agreement. As long as China perceives that constructive engagement on climate change issues is in its best interests, from both diplomatic and economic standpoints, it will continue to work with the United States to keep this on the international agenda

You can read the entire article over at The Week.

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