STUDY China’s Role in Climate Change Negotiations Perspectives for COP21 ZHONGXIANG ZHANG November 2015 n Along with the gradual change over the past decade in China’s stance on climate change mitigation, its government has become much more active domestically to significantly reduce carbon emissions. Against the backdrop of the upcoming ne ­gotiations on climate change mitigation in Paris in December 2015(COP21), these developments are of particular interest. In this study, Professor Zhongxiang Zhang describes these policies and goals as well as China’s position in international climate change negotiations to illustrate China’s position and scope for action at COP21. n After an overview of China’s changing stance in international climate change negoti ­ations, there follows a description of various goals, policies and recent developments in China, which have successfully started to curb the growth of carbon emissions over the past decade. As air pollution and other environmental topics have become increasingly important for China’s society and government, these efforts by the Chi ­nese government are likely to further grow in scale and ambition. n Based on this overview, China’s scope for action at COP21 is explored as well as the likelihood of reaching an ambitious international agreement. Determining a date for China’s carbon emissions to peak will be an important part of any such agreement, but a date for this carbon peak is still subject to intense debate and will likely prove to be among the most contentious issues at the COP21 summit.