Chinese and American flags fluttering outside a US company building in Beijing, China on January 21, 2021. REUTERS / Tingshu Wang / File Photo
China and the United States agree that stronger promises to fight climate change must be made before a new round of international talks at the end of the year, the two countries said in a joint statement on Sunday.
The statement comes after a meeting between Chinese climate envoy Xie Zhenhua and his US counterpart, John Kerry, in Shanghai on Thursday and Friday, the Chinese ministry said.
“The United States and China are committed to working with each other and with other countries to tackle the climate crisis,” they said in a joint statement. The two countries will continue to “discuss concrete action in the 2020s to reduce emissions aimed at keeping the temperature limit agreed within Paris within reach.”
Kerry arrived in Shanghai on Wednesday night under strict COVID-19 protocols and was transferred to a secluded hotel that is not available to the public. Then he travels to Seoul.
His stop in Shanghai was the first high-level visit to China by an official from the Biden administration since the new president took office, following a controversial exchange between officials from the two countries in March in Alaska.
The talks also point to the resumption of the climate dialogue between the two largest greenhouse gas emissions in the world. Bilateral talks came to a standstill during the administration of Donald Trump, who withdrew from the 2015 agreement in Paris after he claimed it had unfairly punished US businesses.
The United States is expected to deliver a new pledge soon to reduce US greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to regain the confidence of foreign allies. Biden brought the United States back into the Paris climate agreement.
Li Shuo, senior climate adviser for the environmental group Greenpeace, said China would soon be able to respond to a new US promise with one of its own and build on the “momentum” of the Shanghai talks.
“The statement, in my opinion, is as positive as politics would allow: it sends a very unequivocal message that will work together on this particular issue (China and the United States). Before the meetings in Shanghai, it was not a message that we could not adopt. ” Li said.
Biden will hold a virtual summit this week for dozens of world leaders to discuss climate change, to come alive for public viewing. Global climate talks are scheduled for November 1-12 in Glasgow.
The statement said the two countries had also agreed to discuss specific emission reduction actions, including energy storage, carbon capture and hydrogen. They said they would act to maximize funding for developing countries to switch to low-carbon energy sources.
The Paris Agreement encourages countries to make more ambitious climate promises if they are able to do so. China has already promised improved action as it tries to become its carbon neutral by 2060.
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