President Barack Obama announced on Saturday the USA would formally join a sweeping global emissions-cutting accord reached past year, boosting efforts to bring the accord into effect by the end of 2016.
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Both countries have now submitted their plan to join the agreement to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who is in Hangzhou to witness the ratification, Reuters reported.
“China and the United States, the two largest developing and developed country economies and emitters, joining the Paris Agreement shows that the global community can come together to address the threat of climate change”, said Alvin Lin of the US-based Natural Resources Defense Council.
Opening his final trip to Asia, President Barack Obama is expected to join Chinese leader Xi Jinping in announcing their countries are formally taking part in a historic global climate deal.
US President Barack Obama arrives at Hangzhou Xiaoshan global airport before the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China September 3, 2016.
Once 55 countries representing at least 55 percent of emissions formally ratify the agreement struck in Paris last December, it will be enforced.
Together, the USA and China produce 38 percent of the world’s man-made carbon dioxide emissions.
The news follows several major conservation- and climate-related announcements by Obama this week.
Xi said China and the United States have carried out fruitful cooperation under the G20 framework, and the two sides have maintained close coordination and communication with regard to the preparation of the G20 Hangzhou summit.
Beyond economics, there may be friction over territorial disputes in the South China Sea and a U.S.
China along with 195 other countries signed the Paris Agreement at UN Headquarters in NY on April 22, Earth Day, sending a strong messaging to the worldwide community as it joins forces against global warming.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan have pledged to strengthen ties between the two countries to fight terrorism as they gather in China for the G20 Summit starting on Sunday (4 September).
Both were key to getting an agreement in Paris previous year.
During the negotiations over the Paris deal Beijing stressed the concept of “differentiated responsibilities” – the idea that developed countries should shoulder the lion’s share of the burden as they have polluted most since the Industrial Revolution. Prior to China and America’s agreement Saturday, 23 countries – representing just 1% of emissions – had agreed to the terms set out.
Under the agreement, the United States will cut its emissions by 26 percent to 28 percent, from 2005 levels, by 2025.
Speaking to a business forum on the eve of a summit of leaders of the world’s 20 biggest economies in Hangzhou, Xi said the G20 should combine monetary and fiscal policies with structural reforms to promote growth, and warned that isolationism could not resolve problems faced by the global economy.
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Crucially, the legal footing of the agreement means it does not have to be ratified by the US Congress, allowing President Obama to circumnavigate Republican opposition to the deal. And when it comes to combating climate change, that’s what we’re doing.
