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China and the United States on Wednesday vowed to work together to accelerate climate action this decade, separately announcing a surprise pact on global warming, which is already wreaking disasters across the world.
The joint declaration came as the crunch COP26 summit in Glasgow entered its pivotal final days, with negotiators wrestling over ways to limit global warming to 1.5-2 degrees Celsius compared to preindustrial levels.
“This document contains strong statements about the alarming science, the emissions gap, and the urgent need to accelerate action to close that gap,” US special envoy John Kerry told reporters.
“It commits to a series of important actions now this decade when it is needed.”
The plan is light on concrete targets but heavy on political symbolism at a conference that began with the US and China — the world’s two biggest emitters — seemingly at loggerheads.
Last week US President Joe Biden criticised the decision of China’s President Xi Jinping not to attend the Glasgow summit, accusing China of walking away.
China hit back, but relations appear to have thawed ahead of long-awaited bilateral talks next week, with Kerry and Xie each saying they were rising above differences to work together on climate.
“Both sides recognise that there is a gap between the current effort and the Paris Agreement goals so we will jointly strengthen climate action,” Beijing’s longtime climate envoy Xie Zhenhua said.
‘Seriousness and urgency’
A document outlining the agreement includes a focus on lowering methane emissions, which Kerry described as the “single fastest and most effective way to limit warming”.
It also says the two sides will meet regularly to “address the climate crisis”.
The document stresses the need to boost emissions efforts in the short term, with scientists warning that slashing emissions…
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Source : france24
