Irresponsible Trump, responsible China; that is the message BBC climate editor Justin Rowlatt seemed to be sending us by juxtaposing the news that the US president had repealed Barack Obama’s ‘endangerment finding’ and that China’s carbon emissions fell slightly last year. Trump’s critics like to portray him as a rogue figure in a world which is otherwise committed to reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions. But is there any truth in that?

The endangerment finding does not appear to have had any obvious impact on US emissions

The endangerment finding does not appear to have had any obvious impact on US emissions

The endangerment finding was a piece of legalese issued in a 2009 ruling by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It stated that six greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorcarbons, perfluourocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride – are a danger to human health on the grounds that excessive concentrations of them in the air contribute to global warming and all kinds of meteorological disasters. There are valid criticisms to be made of many of the assertions, such as its........

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