China says it has launched enhanced climate action plan with US

Tensions had been building between China on the US in recent months, but now the two nations have revealed a surprising collaboration.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) and US President Joe Biden. Picture: AFP

China and the United States on Wednesday announced a joint initiative to deliver enhanced climate action, Beijing’s longtime climate envoy told the COP26 summit.

“Both sides recognise that there is a gap between the current effort and the Paris Agreement goals so we will jointly strengthen climate action,” China’s climate envoy Xie Zhenhua told reporters in a surprise announcement.

China and US are the two largest emitters in the world and together account for nearly 40 per cent of all carbon pollution.

Xie said the plan would involve “concrete plans” for enhanced action this decade and that both the US and China were ready “to work on the finalisation of the Paris Agreement rule book” at the UN climate summit in Glasgow.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) and US President Joe Biden. Picture: AFP

A wording of the declaration that appeared online shortly after the announcement said both countries “recognise the seriousness and urgency of the climate crisis”.

“They are committed to tackling it through their respective accelerated actions in the critical decade of the 2020s,” the document said.

It said the US and China considered work to slash their emissions of methane — a potent greenhouse gas — this decade “a necessity”.

The 2015 Paris accord commits nations to work towards limiting global temperature rises to between 1.5C and 2C through sweeping emissions cuts.

Xie said that China and the US had carried out 30 virtual meetings over the course of the last 10 months to come up with the initiative.

“As the two major powers in the world, China and the United States have to take on the responsibility to work together with other parties to address climate change,” he said.

A coal-fired power plant spews smoke into the air in Daqi, Inner Mongolia, China. Picture: Ryan Pyle/Corbis via Getty Images

Last week US President Joe Biden said Chinese leader Xi Jinping had “walked away” from the climate crisis for skipping the COP26 summit.

China hit back at the time, but ties appear to have thawed ahead of long awaited bilateral talks next week.

“The release of this joint declaration shows that co-operation is the only choice for China and the US,” said Xie.

Delegates in Glasgow are negotiating how to implement the Paris Agreement temperature goals, in addition to how vulnerable nations can be helped to fight climate change.

The United Nations said that all countries emissions cutting plans, taken together, were currently set to warm Earth 2.7C by 2100.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres tweeted that the US-China accord was “an important step in the right direction”.