America and China’s big ask for higher education: on the Sunnylands statement

Last month Chinese and United States leaders met in the San Francisco area. It was a major diplomatic meeting for the world’s largest geopolitical struggle. Many developments emerged from this event, yet I want to draw your attention to a single item. It appeared from one of several communiques, the Sunnylands Statement (English language, Chinese language). It has several implications for higher education, but also one clear demand of the academy, which I’d like to share here.

I don’t have time today to go into the broader geopolitical details and implications of the series of meetings: the hot line, different readouts, trade, etc. There are some good, basic commentaries out there. There are also solid analyses of the Sunnylands statement, like this one. Instead, I’m going to focus on this one document and what it could do for — and to — academia.

Why should educators care about international agreements? Because when it comes to climate change these impact us directly and indirectly, on multiple fronts. (Chapter 5 of my Universities On Fire addresses this in some detail.)

The Sunnylands Statement is a multi-point pledge for bilateral cooperation on the climate crisis. John Kerry and Xie Zhenhua represented their respective nations in its crafting. It calls on both countries to triple renewable energy production in seven years. Methane and other gas reduction is on the table, in addition to CO2 Both sides agreed to build five new…