When president Barack Obama arrived in China on Saturday, typical pleasantries were spoiled slightly after a Chinese official began shouting at U.S. White House staff.
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China’s President Xi Jinping speaks during the opening ceremony of B20 Summit ahead of G20 Summit, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, September 3, 2016.
In a landmark deal struck in December in the French capital, countries agreed to cut emissions enough to keep the global average rise in temperatures below 2C (36F). The agreement goes into force when joined by at least 55 nations that produce a total of 55 percent of global emissions.
Greenpeace East Asia’s senior climate policy adviser Li Shuo said it was time for the Paris accord to “move from agreement to action”.
Under the agreement, the United States will cut its emissions by 26 percent to 28 percent, from 2005 levels, by 2025.
“Just as I believe the Paris agreement will ultimately prove to be a turning point for our planet, I believe that history will judge today’s efforts as pivotal”, Obama said after he and Xi handed ratified documents to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The Prime Minister will hold talks with US President Barack Obama on Sunday, and hopes to show that the United Kingdom remains a “dependable” diplomatic and trading partner in the wake of the vote to quit the EU. The U.S. has criticized China over cyberhacking and human rights and voiced increased exasperation with Beijing’s growing assertiveness in key waterways in the region.
“Ratifying the agreement accords with China’s policy of actively dealing with climate change”, a proposal on reviewing and ratifying the agreement, approved by Chinese lawmakers, reportedly said.
The Paris deal is the world’s first comprehensive climate agreement. And the countries that join must account for at least 55 percent of the world’s emissions.
“By so quickly joining the Paris Agreement, President Obama and President Xi Jinping are signaling to other countries that the Paris Agreement can come into force this year”, Lou Leonard, vice president for climate and energy at the World Wildlife Fund, said in a statement.
India asking the “parties concerned to show utmost respect to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) has sort of miffed China”, which is anxious about its image being sullied in the world.
Under the Paris Agreement, countries are required to set national targets for reducing or reining in their greenhouse gas emissions.
Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump has said he will end U.S. involvement with the agreement if elected.
China and the United States are the world’s top two producers of man-made carbon emissions.
“Meeting here is an opportunity to discuss the importance of the US-China relationship”, he said.
Brian Deese, senior adviser to Obama, said on a call with reporters ahead of Saturday’s meeting that the USA and China have become “very strong partners on climate change”.
Obama, in a CNN interview, said he’d told China’s leaders repeatedly that with more global power comes more responsibility.
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“The G20, in my opinion, is essentially a global coordination organization that aims to meet the varied pursuits of the current worldwide community”, said Professor Zheng Xinye, deputy dean of the School of Economics at Renmin University of China.
