SULAIMANI (ESTA) — China and the United States agree that stronger pledges to fight climate change should be introduced 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 came after a meeting between Chinese climate envoy Xie Zhenhua and his U.S. counterpart, John Kerry, in Shanghai on Thursday and Friday, China’s environment ministry said, according to Reuters.
China and the United States also agreed to discuss specific emission reduction actions including energy storage, carbon capture and hydrogen. They also agreed to take action to maximise financing for developing countries to switch to low-carbon energy sources.
“The United States and China are committed to cooperating with each other and with other countries to tackle the climate crisis, which must be addressed with the seriousness and urgency that it demands,” they said.
Kerry’s trip came after an earlier summit in Alaska between U.S. and Chinese officials led to fiery interactions that illustrated the depth of tension between the world’s two largest economies at the beginning of Biden’s tenure in office.
Kerry has been urging countries around the world to set ambitious targets for cutting their greenhouse gas emissions. The United States is set to announce its own new target for emissions cuts by 2030 in the coming week.
Biden’s Earth Day summit, scheduled for April 22-23, will be a chance for the White House to reassert U.S. leadership on climate change. Biden, a Democrat, brought the United States back into the Paris climate accord after his predecessor, Republican President Donald Trump, withdrew in 2017.
