Environment

Xi confirms participation in virtual climate conference organized by Biden

Beijing, Apr 21 (EFE).- Chinese President Xi Jinping will participate Thursday and Friday in an online conference organized by the United States on climate change, the country’s Foreign Ministry said.

Xi will deliver an “important speech” during this leaders’ summit — in which some 40 leaders from around the world will participate — at the invitation of US President Joe Biden, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a Wednesday statement.

As reported this week by The Washington Post, Biden will commit to cutting US greenhouse gas emissions by at least half by 2030, almost double the initial goal his country assumed under the Paris Agreement.

This commitment would be below the one assumed by the European Union, which has increased its emission reduction target for 2030 to 55 percent and will seek carbon neutrality by 2050; and also that of the United Kingdom, which has announced a 78 percent cut by 2035.

However, the rest of the most polluting countries, such as Russia, India and China, have not committed to specific percentages, although Beijing has said it will reach the top of its carbon emissions before 2030 and neutrality by 2060.

The US special envoy for climate change, John Kerry, and Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua, said Sunday in Shanghai they would “improve their respective actions” and “cooperate in multilateral processes” to combat the climate crisis, which “must be addressed seriously and urgently.”

Both parties said the virtual summit “will increase global climate ambition to mitigate, adapt and support” the path to COP 26 in Glasgow, to be held between Nov. 1 and Nov. 12.”

Although Kerry’s visit focused on the fight against climate change, it represented a new public contact between the two superpowers since March, when representatives of the two countries met in Alaska amid a tense atmosphere and cross accusations. EFE

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