The United States and China, the two largest carbon pollutants in the world, have agreed to work together to urgently curb climate change, just days before President Joe Biden presents a virtual summit of world leaders to discuss the issue.
According to a joint statement, US climate envoy John Kerry and his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua were reached last week during two days of talks in Shanghai.
The two countries “are committed to working with each other and with other countries to tackle the climate crisis, which must be addressed with the seriousness and urgency it requires,” the statement said.
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China is the largest carbon emitter in the world, followed by the United States. The two countries pump nearly half of the fossil fuels that warm the planet’s atmosphere. Their cooperation is key to the success of global efforts to curb climate change, but weakened ties over human rights, trade and China’s territorial claims to Taiwan and the South China Sea have threatened to undermine such efforts.
Kerry met with reporters in Seoul on Sunday, saying the language in the statement was “strong” and that the two countries agreed on “critical elements about where we should go.” But the former foreign minister said: ‘I learned in diplomacy that you do not speak the words, but that you act. We all need to see what happens. ‘
Kerry noted that China is the largest coal user in the world, and he and Chinese officials have had many discussions about how to accelerate a global energy transition. “I have never shyed away from expressing our opinion by many, many people that it is essential to reduce coal everywhere,” he said.
GOVERNANCE – Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes US Vice President Biden in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on December 4, 2013. REUTERS / Lintao Zhang / Pool
Biden invited 40 world leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, to the April 22-23 summit. The US and other countries are expected to announce more ambitious national targets for reducing carbon emissions before or during the meeting, along with financial pledges for climate efforts by less affluent countries.
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It is unclear how much Kerry’s visit to China will foster cooperation between the United States and China on climate issues.
While Kerry was still in Shanghai, Chinese Vice Minister Le Yucheng indicated on Friday that China was unlikely to make new promises at next week’s summit.
“For a large country with 1.4 billion people, these goals are not easily achieved,” Le said in an interview with The Associated Press in Beijing. “Some countries are asking China to achieve its goals sooner. I’m afraid it’s not very realistic.”
During a video conference with German and French leaders on Friday, Xi said that climate change “should not become a geopolitical disk, a target for attack on other countries or an excuse for trade barriers”, the official Xinhua News Agency said. report.
On whether Xi would join the summit, Le said “the Chinese side is actively studying the matter.”
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The joint statement said the two countries were “looking forward to” the summit next week. Kerry said Sunday that “we very much hope that (Xi) will participate” in the summit, but it is up to China to make the decision.
Biden, who said combating global warming was one of his top priorities, would rejoin the historic climate agreement in Paris in the first hour of his presidency in 2015, withdrawing the U.S. withdrawal ordered by his predecessor Donald Trump is.
Major greenhouse gas emitters are preparing for the next UN climate summit in Glasgow, UK, in November. The summit is aimed at restarting global efforts to keep rising global temperatures below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), as agreed in the Paris Agreement.
According to the US-China statement, the two countries would “improve their respective actions and cooperation on multilateral processes, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement.”
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It said both countries also intend to develop their respective long-term strategies ahead of the Glasgow conference and ‘take appropriate steps to maximize international investment and financing in support of’ the energy transition in developing countries.
Xi announced last year that China would be carbon neutral by 2060 and aims to reach a peak in its emissions by 2030. In March, China’s Communist Party promised to reduce carbon emissions per unit of economic production by 18% over the next five years. in line with its target for the previous five-year period. But environmentalists say China needs to do more.
Biden has promised that within fourteen years, the US will switch to an emission-free power sector and have a completely emission-free economy by 2050. Kerry also insists on committing other countries to it.