"Rare", "unexpected", "encouraging", "China and the United States announced an agreement to strengthen climate ambitions"...
For the Glasgow Joint Declaration on Strengthening Climate Action in the 2020s, released yesterday (10th). Foreign media generally believe that this declaration shows that the carbon emitters know that climate issues are more important than other issues, and this declaration can inject the necessary energy into this week's Glasgow United Nations Climate Change Conference.
Among them, cnn reported headlines focused on China, stressing that China's pledge to cooperate with the United States on climate issues was "unexpected" but did not make concessions on climate goals.
Xie Zhenhua, China's special envoy for climate change, said the joint declaration was the result of more than 30 talks between climate officials of the two countries over the past year and once again showed that "cooperation is the only option for China and the United States." Through cooperation, China and the United States can achieve many important things that will benefit not only our two countries, but also the entire world." But there is still a "gap" between the current efforts of China and the United States and the goals set by the Paris Agreement.
In addition, international politicians have also given a positive assessment of the Sino-US climate cooperation, calling it "encouraging.". Many climate experts cite the most prominent cooperation between the two sides on methane emissions reductions in the declaration, which also ends tensions at the climate summit and is geopolitically significant.
Screenshot of CNN report
Sino-US climate cooperation and methane emission reduction are very representative
According to the website of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, on November 10, China and the United States issued the Glasgow Joint Declaration on Strengthening Climate Action in the 2020s during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. The two sides appreciate the work done so far and commit to continue to work together and work with all parties to strengthen the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Strengthened climate action to effectively address the climate crisis on the basis of the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capacities, taking into account national circumstances. The two sides agreed to establish the "Working Group on Strengthening Climate Action in the 2020s" to promote climate change cooperation and multilateral processes between the two countries.
According to reports, Xie Zhenhua, China's special envoy for climate change affairs, said at a press conference held on the 10th: "There are more consensuses than differences between China and the United States, which is an area with great potential for cooperation (on climate issues). ”
"The release of this joint declaration once again shows that cooperation is the only option for China and the United States," he stressed. Through cooperation, China and the United States can achieve many important things that will benefit not only our two countries, but also the entire world. ”
Infographic: Xie Zhenhua, China's Special Envoy for Climate Change
CNN noted that methane emission reductions are one of the representative areas of cooperation between the two sides, and Xie Zhenhua did not commit China to participate in the Global Methane Pledge initiative, led by the United States and the European Union, which requires signatories to cut methane emissions by about one-third.
However, Xie Zhenhua said China intends to develop its own "methane plan". "In the case of methane, the United States has announced [the Methane Emission Reduction Action Plan], China is also ready to develop its own methane emission reduction plan, and we will encourage and strengthen cooperation on methane emissions and emission reductions."
According to Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, the Sino-US joint declaration includes a commitment to cooperate in reducing methane emissions, as well as protecting forests, strengthening technology and information exchanges, and increasing the use of renewable energy.
The United Nations released the Global Methane Assessment this year, urging a reduction in methane emissions to avoid rising global temperatures. Pictured from the United Nations News Network
The joint declaration mentions that the two countries are particularly aware of the significant impact of methane emissions on warming and consider greater action to control and reduce methane emissions as necessary in the 2020s. To this end, the two countries plan to cooperate in strengthening the measurement of methane emissions; exchange information on their respective policies and plans to strengthen methane control; and promote joint research on methane emission reduction challenges and solutions.
The two sides plan to develop additional measures to strengthen methane emission controls at the national and subnational levels, while China plans to develop a comprehensive and robust national action plan for methane in addition to its recently notified Nationally Determined Contributions to achieve significant results in controlling and reducing methane emissions in the 2020s.
In addition, the United States and China plan to meet together in the first half of 2022 to focus on strengthening methane measurement and emission reductions, including reducing methane emissions from the fossil energy and waste industries through standards, and reducing methane emissions from agriculture through incentives and projects.
Cecilia Han Springer, a senior fellow at Boston University's Global China Initiative, called the declaration "fairly comprehensive," with the most prominent of which was the provisions on methane emissions reductions.
"Methane is really a key and exciting area for this collaboration, because both countries are facing greenhouse gas emissions, especially methane, and there are a lot of technical exchanges between China and the United States," she said. ”
In order to seek concrete and pragmatic cooperation, China and the United States will set up a working group
"China and the United States are committed to making bilateral cooperation more concrete and pragmatic, and developing on the basis of institutions and mechanisms." Xie Zhenhua said at a press conference that the joint declaration announced that the United States and China will set up a working group to strengthen climate action in the 2020s.
According to reports, the working group planned to be established by the two sides is called the "Working Group on Strengthening Climate Action in the 2020s", which will meet regularly to respond to the climate crisis and promote the multilateral process, focusing on strengthening specific actions in this decade. This may include continuing policy and technical exchanges, identifying programs and projects in areas of mutual interest, holding intergovernmental and non-governmental expert meetings, promoting the participation of local governments, enterprises, think tanks, academics and other experts, exchanging updates on the progress of national efforts, considering the need for additional efforts and assessing the implementation of the Joint Declaration and this Joint Declaration.
Xie Zhenhua pointed out that the joint declaration released on the 10th is the result of more than 30 online and face-to-face meetings between Chinese and AMERICAN climate officials in the past year, and he told reporters that there is still a "gap" between the current efforts of China and the United States and the goals set by the Paris Agreement.
"We will combine our respective national conditions to jointly strengthen actions and cooperation on climate change, and accelerate the green and low-carbon transformation and technological innovation to fill this gap." Xie Zhenhua said.
After a press conference held by Xie Zhenhua, China's special envoy for climate change, the U.S. president's special envoy for climate issues, John Kerry, said he was pleased with the joint declaration between the two countries, CNN reported.
Infographic: John Kerry, U.S. President's Special Envoy on Climate Issues, from the surging image
"I think it's just the beginning and if we work hard, we can get to a better level." Kerry told reporters in Glasgow that as the world's two largest emitters of greenhouse gases, the United States and China need to "show the way" and, in a decisive decade, increase ambition and take action.
Kerry said the U.S. and China have two options, either to leave COP26 uncooperatively or to work together to raise climate ambitions and start moving down a better path. He added that the United States and China may be holding a leaders' meeting soon, and his team is busy preparing for the event.
The outside world is highly concerned about the joint declaration issued by China and the United States
For this joint declaration, industry experts gave positive comments and high attention, and major media also used words such as "unexpected" and "rare" to describe and report.
Kelly Sims Gallagher, director of the Climate Policy Laboratory at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, said: "This declaration is really important, the implication is that it was actually issued. ”
"At a time when bilateral relations are so tense, the two countries were able to find a way to issue a joint declaration, which in fact sends an encouraging signal to COP26 negotiators, as it shows that the two major emitters can still cooperate." Gallagher said.
For the joint declaration, the Financial Times reported that China and the United States had "rarely" issued a joint declaration on cooperation on climate change, and the two climate envoys said they had found common ground on some of the "most intractable issues".
Screenshot of the Financial Times report
The BBC noted that at COP26 in Glasgow, China and the United States agreed to strengthen climate cooperation over the next 10 years, a decision that was "unexpected".
The BBC reported that Frans Timmermans, vice-president of the European Commission and chief negotiator on climate issues, said it was "really encouraging" to see U.S.-China cooperation, which also showed that both the U.S. and China knew that climate issues were more important than other issues, which helped the parties reach an agreement at COP26.
Unprove Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also welcomed the joint declaration, tweeting: "Tackling climate change requires international cooperation and solidarity, which is an important step in the right direction." ”
Guterres Twitter screenshot
Because of the differences between China and the United States on many issues, the New York Times also described the joint declaration as "unexpected." While the terms of the manifesto are not particularly radical, some observers hope it could inject the necessary energy into the dreary negotiations at this week's Glasgow climate summit.
"It's a climate truce." The New York Times quoted Nick Mabey, co-founder of E3G, a climate change research institute.
Meby said that while the declaration is not an important agreement on climate action, it has geopolitical significance, indicating that the United States and China have ended the "war of words" that led to tensions at the climate summit.
Screenshot of the New York Times report
Hong Kong's South China Morning Post noted that while the U.S.-China joint declaration barely mentions new quantitative targets, the document is seen as helping to ensure an ambitious outcome of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. The summit is currently negotiating new rules to curb climate change.
CNN reported that earlier on the 10th, the draft agreement of the COP26 conference has been released, including the global commitment to control global warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius, acknowledging the impact of fossil fuels in the climate crisis, etc., which will be the first time to put forward at the annual climate summit, "but China has not directly expressed whether it supports the complete form of the draft agreement of the conference."
On November 8, local time, Xie Zhenhua, China's special envoy for climate change affairs, said in an interview with a reporter from the Central Radio and Television Station that the ministerial negotiation task of this session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference is very arduous.
In response to some countries' proposals to set the global temperature control target at 1.5 degrees Celsius at the end of this century, Xie Zhenhua believes that this is one of the difficulties in the current negotiations. He said the Paris Agreement's goal of "limiting the increase in global average temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and, as far as possible, within 1.5 degrees Celsius" has reached a consensus among all countries and reflects great inclusiveness. China does not want to negotiate at this meeting because of the re-setting of objectives, which will lead to differences and delay the actual issues to be resolved.
This article is an exclusive manuscript of the Observer Network and may not be reproduced without authorization.