For decades, the only meaningful deals China struck with any other nation to reduce its enormous output of greenhouse gases were with the world’s other largest polluter, the United States.
Now, the European Union is trying to break into that club.
Six months ago, the Trump administration cut U.S. ties to the Paris climate agreement, reneging on past deals with Beijing.
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That left a huge gap. The world’s two top-polluting countries had for many years set the course for the rest of the world — albeit at a pace far too slow to avoid warming the planet to catastrophic levels.
