Their face-to-face talks follow the announcement by both leaders that their countries have formally joined the landmark climate agreement reached previous year in Paris.
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“The signal of the two large emitters taking this step together and taking it early, far earlier than people had anticipated a year ago, should give confidence to the global communities and to other countries that are working on their climate change plans, that they too can move quickly and will be part of a global effort”, Deese told reporters on Friday.
Under the Paris accord, China has pledged to cut its carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 60-65 percent from 2005 levels by 2030 and increase non-fossil fuel sources in primary energy consumption to about 20 percent.
The agreement will come into force after a critical mass of polluting countries has joined. The Chinese official then yelled: “This is our country”. Even the third step – formally participating in the deal – doesn’t bring it into force in the USA or China.
The United States, the second biggest emitter, is also set to ratify the agreement in a bid to put the deal into legal force before the end of the year.
The agreement reached a year ago will go into effect if ratified by at least 55 countries representing 55 percent of the world’s man-made emissions.
Xi, speaking through a translator, said he hoped other countries would follow suit and advance new technologies to help them meet their targets.
The ceremony opened what is likely Obama’s valedictory tour in Asia.
Obama, visiting this scenic Chinese city for the annual summit of Group of 20 industrialized and emerging economies, stepped off Air Force one onto a red carpet, where an honor guard dressed in white and carrying bayonets lined his path.
In fact, emissions must continue to reduce in the upcoming years in order to prevent the most catastrophic impacts of climate change.
The U.S. aide insisted that the journalists be allowed to stand behind a rope line, and they were able to record the interaction and Obama’s arrival uninterrupted, typical practice for U.S. press traveling with the president.
As for its commitments to the climate deal, the USA pledged to cut its emissions 26 percent to 28 percent over the next 15 years, compared to 2005 levels.
The G20 nations are responsible for about 80 percent of global carbon emissions.
“We are moving the world significantly towards the goal we have set”, he said, adding that history would show that the Paris deal would “ultimately prove to be a turning point”. In the USA, no Senate ratification is required because the agreement is not considered a formal treaty.
Republican leaders have complained that the agreement works around Congress, where GOP majorities would not have approved the deal or the legislation needed to meet its targets. The matter is expected to be on the agenda for Obama’s meeting with Xi, along with ongoing efforts to phase out hydrofluorocarbons, another greenhouse gas.
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Argentine President Mauricio Macri and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also arrived in Hangzhou.
