Global Leadership, Global Issues: The U.S. and China Take on Climate Change and Ivory Trafficking

Last Friday, the United States and China announced new joint efforts to address one of the greatest threats our world faces today: climate change. But that’s not all; in the same press conference, the two nations also vowed to work together to combat wildlife trafficking, particularly the illegal ivory trade. While these two issues may seem to be wildly different, they share an important theme: the U.S. and China are the world’s two largest producers of carbon emissions and two of the largest markets for elephant ivory. That means these new initiatives will make a significant impact on how these tough conservation issues are handled around the globe, and are an excellent example of international leadership in the protection of our wildlife, lands, water and air.

The timing of these announcements is auspicious for the U.S. President Obama has just returned from a trip to Alaska, where he focused a spotlight on climate change in the Arctic. It also comes on the heels of Pope Francis’ historic visit to Washington, where he reiterated the urgency of the fight against climate change. Additionally, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a new rule this summer that would result in a near total ban on the commercial trade of African elephant ivory in the United States, tightening longstanding loopholes that have allowed illegal ivory to be smuggled into the country and sold undetected for decades. It’s clear that President Obama wants to make protecting the natural world for future generations-and advancing that goal internationally- a part of his legacy.

Certainly China’s renewed commitment to addressing global warming is a big step forward for the global climate cause. The two countries both agreed to set goals for lower carbon emissions from power plants and other energy sources and to increase standards for energy efficiency. China also announced it would launch a new cap and trade market. And the two countries laid out a shared vision for the 2015 United Nations Climate Conference in Paris. This joint commitment may end up being an important step in helping those talks achieve, for the first time, a universal international agreement on climate.

While it’s true that wildlife trafficking is a lower-profile problem compared to the challenge of addressing climate change, it’s important to remember that it still has a very significant impact on biodiversity and ecosystem health. And it’s an enormous problem for one of the world’s largest and most intelligent land mammals in particular: the African elephant. Nearly one hundred elephants die each day at the hands of poachers, their ivory smuggled and shipped around the world, often to major markets in the United States and China. The two nations said they would enact “nearly complete bans on ivory import and export,” and cooperate on training and education efforts to better fight the illegal wildlife trade.

The Obama administration is working to make good on this promise. The public comment period on the proposed rule for African elephants closed yesterday, and it reflects the administration’s commitment to ending the illegal ivory trade. The proposed rule would severely increase restrictions on ivory imports and exports and seeks to ban the commercial sale of most ivory in interstate and foreign commerce with limited exceptions. Importantly, it places the burden on the seller to prove that ivory items qualify for legal sale. The proposal aims to reduce domestic demand for ivory and to ensure that the U.S. does not contribute to the disappearance of these majestic animals in the wild. And it has received an incredibly positive reception from the American public and the conservation community, with over a million people weighing in with support. If this rule is enacted, it could help save the lives of thousands of elephants every year and ensure they are part of the African landscape for decades to come.

The joint stand these two countries have taken to battle the threats of climate change and wildlife trafficking speaks to the fact that we live in a global community. No nation exists in a vacuum, and our leaders must coordinate their efforts to make the world a better place. The United States and China’s commitment to joining forces on these issues reminds us that working together is crucial to conservation on every level, from local communities to the most powerful nations in the world. We hope to see the United States and China expand their commitment on wildlife trafficking to include other imperiled species, and build on their climate change vision.