(Beijing) China and the United States announced on Wednesday the launch of a joint climate working group, the two countries strengthening their coordination a few hours before a meeting between their leaders in San Francisco.
Against a backdrop of bilateral tensions around Taiwan, trade disputes and the South China Sea, Xi Jinping and Joe Biden will speak on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit.
The two powers have been collaborating for several years on the climate issue, an area in which they regularly find common ground.
Discussions between Chinese and American climate envoys, Xie Zhenhua and John Kerry, were notably organized from November 4 to 7 in California, United States.
The new working group announced Wednesday will focus on “energy transition, methane, circular economy and resource efficiency, low-carbon and sustainable provinces/states and cities, and deforestation,” they said. in a joint statement Chinese state media and the US State Department.
The members of the group will lead “dialogue and cooperation in order to accelerate concrete actions in favor of the climate”, according to the text.
The two sides agreed to “work together and with other parties” to “address one of the greatest challenges of our time for current and future generations of humanity,” according to their statement.
Methane reduction
They will also relaunch “bilateral dialogues on energy policies and strategies” and “deepen political exchanges on energy saving and carbon emissions reduction solutions”.
The United States and China also undertake to “immediately begin technical cooperation” on reducing methane emissions, of which China is the world’s largest emitter.
Beijing unveiled a major program last week to control its emissions of this greenhouse gas – without, however, proposing a precise reduction objective.
In their joint statement however, both sides agreed to “develop their respective methane reduction actions/targets”, which will be included in their 2035 emissions reduction plans – known as “determined contributions to the national level” (CDN).
They also recommitted to the goals of the 2015 Paris climate agreement to keep global warming “well below” 2 degrees Celsius and continue efforts to limit the increase to 1. 5 degree.
The 28e United Nations Climate Conference (COP28) will be held from November 30 to December 12 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
“Pick up the phone”
The success of the event depends largely on cooperation between the United States and China, the two largest emitters of greenhouse gases in absolute terms.
Their agreement is often seen as crucial to giving momentum to climate negotiations.
The year 2023 is expected to be the hottest on record in human history.
The pressure on world leaders to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming, has never been greater.
Asked about his meeting with Xi Jinping, Joe Biden said on Tuesday that it was above all an opportunity to keep a still tense bilateral relationship under control.
“We are not trying to decouple ourselves from China,” assured the American president, for whom the objective is to “be able to pick up the phone and talk to each other if there is a crisis.”
Mr. Biden, however, estimated that Mr. Xi’s China had “real problems” in the face of the “restoration of American leadership”.
“We are opposed to a definition of Sino-American relations in terms of competition,” repeated a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with Beijing regularly calling on Washington for cooperation rather than confrontation.