China and the United States have just issued a statement!

On November 15, China and the United States issued a Sunnyland Statement on Strengthening Cooperation to Address the Climate Crisis, the full text of which is as follows:

Sunshine Country Statement on Strengthening Cooperation to Address the Climate Crisis

Revisiting the meeting between President Xi Jinping and President Joseph Biden in Bali, Indonesia, the United States and China reaffirmed their commitment to cooperation and working with other countries to address the climate crisis. To this end, China's Special Envoy for Climate Change Xie Zhenhua and U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry met in Beijing from July 16 to 19 and November 4 to 7, 2023 in Sunshine Country, California, and issued the following statement:

1. The United States and China recall, reaffirm, and commit to the further effective and sustained implementation of the April 2021 U.S.-China Joint Statement on Addressing the Climate Crisis and the November 2021 U.S.-China Joint Declaration on Strengthening Climate Action in the 2020s.

2. The United States and China recognize that the impact of the climate crisis on countries around the world is becoming increasingly significant. In the face of warnings from the best available scientific findings, such as the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the two countries are committed to the effective implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement, embodying the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, taking into account different national circumstances, and limiting the global average temperature rise to well below 2°C and working to limit it to 1.5°C, including efforts to keep 1.5°C achievable, in accordance with Article 2 of the Paris Agreement.

3. The United States and China are committed to the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement and its decisions, including the Glasgow Climate Agreement and the Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan. The two countries stressed that COP28 is critical to meaningfully addressing the climate crisis in this critical decade and beyond. The two countries recognize the important role they have to play in implementing the goals of the Paris Agreement and promoting multilateralism, both in terms of domestic responses and joint cooperative actions. For the sake of present and future generations, the two countries will work together and with the other parties to the Convention and the Paris Agreement to confront one of the world's greatest challenges.

4. China and the United States have decided to launch the "Enhanced Climate Action Working Group for the 20s of the 21st Century" to engage in dialogue and cooperation to accelerate concrete climate action in the 20s of the 21st century. The Working Group will focus on areas of cooperation identified in the Joint Statement and Declaration, including energy transition, methane, circular economy and resource use efficiency, low-carbon sustainable provinces/states and cities, deforestation, and other mutually agreed topics. The Working Group will exchange information on policies, measures and technologies to control and reduce emissions, share experiences, identify and implement collaborative projects, and assess the implementation of the joint statement, the joint declaration and this statement. The Working Group is co-chaired by the Special Envoys for Climate Change of the two countries, with the participation of officials from relevant ministries and government agencies of the two countries in an appropriate manner.

5. The United States and China will focus on accelerating the following concrete actions under the Working Group before and after COP28, especially practical and tangible cooperation plans and projects.

Energy transition

6. In this critical decade of the 20s, the two countries support the efforts set out in the G20 Leaders' Declaration to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030, and plan to fully accelerate the deployment of renewable energy in both countries between now and 2030 at 2020 levels to accelerate substitution of kerosene, oil and gas power generation, so that meaningful absolute reductions in emissions from the power sector can be expected to peak in the wake of the peak.

7. The two sides agreed to reconvene the U.S.-China Energy Efficiency Forum to deepen exchanges on energy conservation and carbon reduction policies in key areas such as industry, construction, transportation and equipment.

8. China and the United States plan to resume bilateral energy policy and strategic dialogues, exchange views on mutually agreed issues, promote Track II activities, and strengthen practical cooperation.

9. By 2030, the two countries will each promote at least five large-scale cooperation projects in carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) in the fields of industry and energy.

Methane and other non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions

10. The two countries will implement their respective national methane action plans and plan to refine further measures as appropriate.

11. The two countries will immediately launch a technical working group to engage in policy dialogue, exchange of technical solutions and capacity building, and develop methane emission reduction actions/targets to be included in their 2035 NDCs based on their respective national methane action plans, and support the progress of their respective methane emission reductions/reductions.

12. The two countries plan to cooperate on their respective measures to manage nitrous oxide emissions.

The two countries plan to work together to phase down HFCs under the Kigali Amendment and are committed to ensuring that all refrigeration equipment produced is subject to ambitious minimum energy efficiency standards.

Circular economy and resource efficiency

14. Recognizing the important role of circular economy development and resource efficiency in addressing the climate crisis, the relevant government departments of the two countries plan to hold a policy dialogue on these issues as soon as possible, and support enterprises, universities and research institutions of the two sides to carry out exchanges, discussions and cooperation projects.

15. China and the United States are committed to ending plastic pollution and will work with all parties to develop a legally binding international instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment.

Local cooperation

16. The United States and China will support provincial, state, and city climate cooperation in areas such as power, transportation, buildings, and waste. The two sides will promote the active participation of local governments, enterprises, think tanks and other relevant parties. The two countries will engage in policy dialogue, sharing of best practices, exchange of information and promote project cooperation through agreed regular meetings.

17. The United States and China plan to host a high-level event on local climate action in the first half of 2024.

18. The two sides welcome and appreciate the local cooperation that has taken place between the two countries, and encourage provinces, states and cities to carry out practical climate cooperation.

forest

19. The two sides commit to make further efforts to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030, including through regulatory and policy instruments, to fully implement and effectively enforce their respective laws prohibiting illegal imports. The two sides plan to include discussions under the Working Group on how to enhance efforts to strengthen the implementation of this commitment.

Greenhouse gas and air pollutant emission reduction synergy

20. The two countries plan to cooperate to promote relevant policy measures and technology deployment to strengthen the coordinated control of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds and other tropospheric ozone precursors.

2035 Nationally Determined Contributions

21. Reaffirm the nationally determined nature of the NDCs, and recall Article 4(4) of the Paris Agreement, which states that the 2035 NDCs of the two countries will be economy-wide, including all greenhouse gases, and that the emission reductions reflected are in line with the Paris temperature target of limiting global average temperature rise to well below 2°C and striving to limit it to 1.5°C.

COP28

22. China and the United States, together with the United Arab Emirates, will invite countries to participate in the "Methane and Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gas Summit" to be held during COP28.

23. The United States and China will actively participate in the first global stocktake of the Paris Agreement, which is an important opportunity for Parties to review the intensity, implementation and cooperation to meet the Paris Agreement's temperature target of limiting global average temperature rise to well below 2°C and working to limit it to 1.5°C, consistent with the Party's determination to keep the 1.5°C goal achievable.

24. The two countries are committed to working together and with other Parties to reach a global stocktaking decision by consensus. According to the two countries, the decision:

- should reflect substantial positive progress towards the goals of the Paris Agreement, including that the Agreement has facilitated action by Parties and non-Party stakeholders, and that the world is significantly better off in terms of temperature trajectory than it had been without the Agreement;

– equity should be considered, with reference to the best available science, including the latest IPCC report;

- should be balanced across thematic areas, including retrospective and responsive elements, and consistent with the Paris Agreement design;

- Achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement requires a significant increase in ambition and implementation in terms of action and support, taking into account different national circumstances;

- Signals should be sent on the energy transition (renewables, coal/oil/gas), carbon sinks such as forests, non-CO2 gases such as methane, and low-carbon technologies;

- Recognizing the nationally determined nature of NDCs and recalling Article 4(4) of the Paris Agreement, the 2035 economy-wide NDCs should be encouraged to cover all greenhouse gases;

- should reflect the critical importance of adaptation and be supported by a strong decision to propose a strong framework of global adaptation targets - accelerate adaptation, including the development of targets/indicators to enhance the effectiveness of adaptation;

- Noting that developed countries expect to achieve the US$100 billion climate finance target by 2023, reiterating the urge to at least double the adaptation finance provided by developed country Parties, expecting COP29 to adopt a new collective quantified finance target, and aligning financial flows with the goals of the Paris Agreement;

- The proposal of the Transitional Council to establish a funding arrangement to address the issue of loss and damage, including the establishment of a fund for that purpose, should be welcomed and appreciated;

- The important role of international cooperation, including that the global nature of the climate crisis requires the widest possible cooperation, which is a key enabler of ambitious mitigation action and climate-resilient development.

25. China and the United States are committed to further strengthening dialogue and collaborative efforts, and supporting the UAE presidency in successfully hosting COP28.