Louise Watt

Associated Press

Industrial Media Unboxing Video

Industrial Media Unboxing Video

IEN Unboxed is a new show in which our editors unbox new tools on the market and discuss their features.

For years, cutting carbon emissions to stave off the worst impacts of climate change was routinely near the top of the agenda at bilateral talks between the leaders of the United States and China. Not anymore. As President Donald Trump hosts President Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida this week, the world’s two largest economies and carbon polluters are taking dramatically divergent paths on climate policy.

Trump Boosts Coal; China Takes Lead on Climate Change

The world's two largest economies and carbon polluters are taking dramatically divergent paths on climate policy.

In this Feb. 21, 2017 photo, commuters, some wearing masks, walk to a subway station to a subway station during the evening rush hour in Beijing. Yet the city’s average reading of the tiny particulate matter PM2.5 - considered a good gauge of air pollution - is still seven times what the World Health Organization considers safe. A group of Chinese lawyers is suing the governments of Beijing and its surrounding areas for not doing enough to get rid of the smog.

China Gov't Sued Over Pollution

The dissatisfaction comes even as authorities in the capital are closing factories, getting rid of coal-fired boilers and taking older, heavier-polluting vehicles off the road.

In this Jan. 13, 2017 photo, Yann Boquillod, founder of start-up AirVisual, talks about a 3-D real-time global map of air pollution at the Ivy Bilingual School in Beijing. There is no quick fix to the Chinese capital’s dirty skies, so Beijing residents are finding ways to cope with and adapt to the air pollution. Bodin said he thinks every house should have an air filtering and ventilation system pre-installed. Boquillod wanted to know what kind of air his five children were breathing at home, so he developed a portable air quality monitor.

Smog Pushes China to Innovate

With no quick fix available, many residents develop their own solutions.

In this Oct. 11, 2015 file photo, NBA basketball legend Michael Jordan waves during the match of Charlotte Hornets against the Los Angeles Clippers at the 2015 NBA Global Games in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong province. China's highest court ruled Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016, in favor of Jordan at the conclusion of a years-long trademark case. The former NBA star has been in dispute with a sportswear company based in southern China called Qiaodan Sports since 2012.

Michael Jordan Wins China Court Ruling

"Chinese consumers deserve to know that Qiaodan Sports and its products have no connection to me," said Jordan.

Dr. Lance Rodewald of World Health Organization (WHO) China's immunization program listens to questions during a press conference in Beijing, China. China must exert stronger oversight over vaccines sold on the private market in the wake of a developing scandal involving expired or improperly stored vaccines, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.

WHO Urges More Oversight of China

The scandal reinforces long-standing public concerns over the safety of China's food and medicine supply fed by scandals involving phony infant formula, snacks tainted with chemicals and phony or defective medications.

China will not go back to its era of pursuing economic growth at the expense of the environment despite its slowing economy, the country's Environment Minister Chen Jining said.

China: Slowing Economy Won't Stop Anti-Pollution Efforts

Environment minister Chen Jining said China would continue to restructure its economy away from heavily polluting companies to create more room for "good companies" to develop and focus on technological innovation.