Over at The Week, I have a column looking at the announcement by China’s main planning body that the world’s second largest economy will adopt a nationwide cap-and-trade program in 2016. If implemented, it would represent a critical step forward in the fight against climate change. The move suggests that the Chinese take the problem seriously, adding momentum to international climate talks in Paris in 2015:

However, despite these notable challenges, the move by the Chinese government to go ahead with a national program sooner than previously reported should be welcomed by the international community. It is the latest evidence that the Chinese are serious about emissions, even if the roadmap for getting to an efficient policy remains to be determined.

The announcement also provides an essential confidence-building measure to lock in budding Sino-American cooperation on energy and environmental issues, even as other issues complicate the overall relationship.

Read the entire piece.