Environment

China, US pledge to strengthen Paris agreement implementation

Beijing, Apr 18 (EFE).- United States special envoy for climate change John Kerry and his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua pledged in Shanghai to “reinforce the implementation” of the Paris climate crisis agreement, China’s Environment Ministry reported Sunday.

In a statement issued after Kerry’s two-day visit to Shanghai, both countries agreed to “improve their respective actions” against the climate crisis and “cooperate in multilateral processes” to combat the issue.

These multilateral processes include the United Nations Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, on which both countries highlighted in the joint declaration their “historic contribution to its development, adoption, signature and entry into force.”

“China and the United States are firmly committed to working together and with other countries to strengthen the implementation of the Paris Agreement,” the statement said.

Both parties recall the goal to keep the average temperature increase of the planet below 2C and call for “pursuing efforts” to limit it to 1.5C.

They said they would “pursue those efforts,” including the “adoption of improved climate actions” to contain global temperature increases and cooperate to “identify and address challenges and opportunities.”

Both parties said the virtual summit of 40 world leaders on climate change called by US President Joe Biden for Thursday “will increase global climate ambition to mitigate, adapt and support” the path to the COP 26 summit in November in Glasgow, Scotland.

The joint statement said China and the United States “will take other short-term actions for a greater contribution” in tackling the climate crisis.

Among these, they cited the intention to develop their respective long-term strategies to achieve carbon neutrality.

They added that they intend to take appropriate actions to “maximize international investment and financing to support the transition from carbon-intensive fossil fuel-based energy to green, low-carbon and renewable energy in developing countries.”

On the way to COP 26 and “beyond,” China and the US will discuss concrete actions in this decade to reduce emissions with the aim of keeping the temperature rise established in the Paris Agreement “within reach.”

Among them, they cite policies, measures and technologies to decarbonize industry and energy, including the circular economy, energy storage, grid capacity, and green hydrogen among others.

Likewise, the increase in the deployment of renewable energies, the promotion of green and climate-resilient agriculture, the construction of energy-efficient buildings and low-carbon transport stands out.

They also committed to addressing methane emissions and other non-CO2 greenhouse gases, as well as emissions from civil aviation and maritime activities.

The two agreed to cooperate to promote the success of COP 26 in Glasgow, complete steps for the implementation of the Paris Agreement and “significantly advance” global climate ambition.

A virtual summit was held Friday between the leaders of France, Germany and China – Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel and Xi Jinping – to prepare for the virtual Biden climate summit on Apr. 22 and Apr. 23.

At that summit, a majority of countries will have to commit to raising their pollution emission reduction targets to comply with the Paris Agreement.

Paris promised the signatories to do everything necessary so that the rise in global average temperatures this century does not exceed 2C and remain, if possible, at 1.5 degrees, an impossible goal with the current commitments. EFE

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