United States climate envoy John Kerry said that China and the United States must lead the way on climate change. The two countries have released a joint statement at the United Nations (UN) climate summit in Glasgow.
China and the United States are the world’s biggest emitters of carbon dioxide. The declaration includes statements about closing the emissions gap, limiting methane, and doing more to halt deforestation.
Mr. Kerry said while the United States and China have their differences, working together on the environment is imperative, “Every step matters right now, and we have a long journey ahead of us, so we have to mitigate faster, we have to cut methane emissions faster, we have to continue to raise ambition, and most of all we have to take action in order to keep 1.5 degrees centigrade alive. The United States and China have no shortage of differences but on climate, cooperation is the only way to get this job done.”
China’s chief climate negotiator, Xie Zhenhua said cooperation is the only choice for the two superpowers, “Climate is a common challenge faced by humanity and will impact the well-being of future generations, it’s becoming increasingly urgent and severe. In the area of climate change, there is more agreement between China and the United States than divergence, making it an area with huge potential for cooperation. With two days remaining until the end of the Glasgow summit, we hope this joint declaration will be China and the United States’ contribution to the success of COP26.”
More countries could be pressured to strengthen their climate targets by 2030 under a draft agreement released at the Glasgow climate summit. Negotiations are in their final stages with some leaders including the United Kingdom Prime Minister warning that time is running out.
One of the most significant part of this draft agreement is a paragraph that calls for nations to accelerate the phasing out of coal and also the phasing out of subsidies for fossil fuels. Another key part of this draft agreement is a paragraph calling for countries to revisit and essentially up their commitments for 2030 emissions reductions. As many as 190 countries are attending the COP 26 which will end on Friday (Nov 12).