A meeting between Modi and US President Barack Obama is, however, not on the cards during this trip, they said.
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History would show that the Paris deal would “ultimately prove to be a turning point”, he said, “the moment we finally made a decision to save our planet”.
The central aim of the Paris Agreement is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The world has a long way to go before the Paris global climate agreement can take effect – even after the USA and China recently ratified it.
Senior Obama adviser Brian Deese said the joint declaration should push other countries to formally join the agreement.
Likewise, Xi said the two countries’ efforts “speak to the shared ambition and resolve of China and the United States in addressing global issues”. The leadership of Chinaand the U.S. is crucial to taking the Paris Agreement forward.
India’s entry into the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and its concern over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) are also expected to be raised by the PM during his meeting with Xi Jinping.
“Now, by formally joining the Paris Agreement, you have added powerful momentum to the drive for the Agreement to enter into force this year”, the United Nations chief said in a ceremony, in which he received the legal instruments for joining the Paris Agreement from the world’s two largest greenhouse gas emitters. Unlikely partners on addressing global warming, the US and China have sought to use their collaboration to ramp up pressure on other countries to take concrete action as well. So far, with China and the United States’ ratification, almost 40 percent of carbon emissions are covered. Obama landed in Hangzhou on Saturday and was scheduled to speak about climate change shortly afterward.
“The United States and China should now advocate internationally that the agreement comes into force as soon as possible, so that the world can continue moving forward”, he added.
The proposal adopted by China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee says the agreement will help China “play a bigger role in global climate governance”, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Saturday. As the president disembarked from Air Force One, a Chinese official screamed at USA reporters to move away, yelling “this is our country”. “There are legal issues that need to be resolved, and we do not expect it to be completed by end of 2016”, an Indian official said.
Noting that the city of Hangzhou holds historic significance to Sino-US relations, Xi spoke highly of his previous meetings with Obama since 2013, which “produced important consensus”.
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The agreement will take effect 30 days after the date when 55 countries representing at least 55% of global emissions have formally joined it.
