China and the US agree to collaborate to accelerate the fight against the climate crisis this decade

China and the United States have signed climate peace this Wednesday afternoon, after some friction between the two main powers of the world at the Glasgow summit, the so-called COP26. The heads of the delegations of both nations in the UN negotiations have presented a joint declaration in which they commit to work to accelerate the fight against climate change during this decade. Among the highlights of the pact reached by both powers is the Asian country’s commitment to present a comprehensive plan to reduce its methane emissions over the next year, a powerful greenhouse gas responsible for around 25% of global warming. current.

The USA and the European Union have sponsored a pact within the framework of this summit to reduce these emissions, to which 103 countries had joined. This agreement establishes the goal of achieving a 30% reduction in methane of anthropogenic origin in 2030. China, however, had refused to join. Now it still does not, but the Government of the Asian giant is committed to “developing a comprehensive and ambitious national action plan on methane with the aim of achieving a significant effect in the control and reductions of methane emissions in the decade of 2020″, according to the joint statement released by both governments.

John Kerry, the US government’s special envoy for climate change, and Xie Zhenhua, the head of the Chinese delegation at COP26, have been in charge of presenting the declaration, although in separate press conferences. Kerry has recognized that both powers —which are the ones that emit the most greenhouse gases into the world’s atmosphere— have important differences in many fields. But he added: “We can cooperate in the fight against the climate crisis.” Kerry highlighted in the declaration precisely the agreement on methane, which commits both parties to “exchange information on their respective policies and programs to strengthen the management and control” of this gas. In addition, they must “promote joint research on the challenges and reduction solutions” of that gas.

Xie Zhenhua, for his part, has announced the creation of a working group to control the progress of measures related to methane, but also those that affect deforestation and renewable energies. The first meeting of that group will be in the first half of 2022, the Chinese negotiator has indicated.

Both countries currently accumulate close to 40% of global emissions: China 27% and the United States 11%. And his cut promises for this decade are very different. The US, with the arrival of Joe Biden to the White House, has committed to practically halving its emissions by 2030. China, however, for the moment only maintains the commitment to reach its peak emissions before 2030 and to reduce them thereafter. Although the US goal is ambitious, Biden’s plan is running into problems in its development in Congress. In addition, the threat of a future victory for the Republican Party that leads the US to withdraw from the climate fight remains latent.

The declaration released by both countries recognizes that there is a gap between the plans that all the countries have presented as a whole and what is needed to comply with the Paris Agreement. That pact establishes that warming should not exceed 2 degrees compared to pre-industrial levels and, as far as possible, 1.5. But the sum of global efforts for this decade does not now lead to that goal, but leads to a warming of between 2.4 and 2.7 degrees. Both nations admit in their statement “that a significant gap remains between those efforts.” “The two sides stress the vital importance of closing that gap as soon as possible, including through intensified efforts,” they add.

At the climate summit in Glasgow, a formula is being sought to urge countries to increase their cutback programs immediately, for next year. And many eyes are directed towards China. In the joint statement released this Wednesday, however, this issue is not addressed directly.

The declaration also serves to seal that climatic peace between both powers. During his visit to the Glasgow summit, President Joe Biden slipped a criticism against the presidents of China and Russia, who decided not to participate in the opening of COP26 in person. “The great importance of this is geopolitical,” says Nick Mabey, executive director of E3G, a group of climate change experts, about the statement released on Wednesday. In his opinion, the declaration means that the United States and China announce that they will “end the war of declarations” of the last few days.

Source: The Country