Sam Geall, the executive editor of China Dialogue, a bilingual website on the environment, said Beijing viewed having a climate change denying US president as a rare and unexpected opportunity to boost Chinese soft power by positioning itself as the world’s premier climate change fighter.

A year after COP21 and the adoption of the Paris Agreement, international policymakers are still struggling to convert targets into action. This is clearly indicated by the title of the recent followup COP in Marrakech: Turn the Promise of Paris into Action. But as the international community putters along, cities and local communities are already staking out the front lines of the fight against climate change.

A diverse group of global stakeholders -- businesses, national governments, non-profits and universities, and so many others -- are embracing the transition away from carbon intensive energy and toward an economy built on clean energy technologies.

The 2016 UN climate conference ended last week with reaffirmation by nearly 200 countries of their "highest political commitment" to combating global warming. With the landmark Paris agreement now ratified, the conference delivered what former US Vice President Al Gore called a "bold vision that sets the pace for the world's efforts to implement the deal". 

Ten months ago, nations from across the globe gathered in Paris to announce an historic agreement to combat climate change. [...] Speaking from the Rose Garden, President Obama welcomed this historic step in our global efforts to combat climate change.

Leaders from 175 countries signed the Paris Agreement on climate change Friday as the landmark deal took a key step forward [...] dozens of world leaders for a signing ceremony that set a record for international diplomacy: Never have so many countries signed an agreement on the first available day.