Proclamation – Surprise on China and US emissions reduction at COP26 |

London Thanasis Gavos

The China-US negotiating team at the COP26 conference in Glasgow on Wednesday night issued a surprise joint declaration with mutual promises to limit the emission of hazardous pollutants during the current “critical decade”.

The partnership between the two countries surprised even the British hosts, as in the past few days Beijing and Washington blamed each other for insufficient progress in the conference.

According to chief negotiators Xie Zenua and John Kerry, the two countries will work together on a number of critical areas, such as methane emissions cuts, carbon dioxide emissions in transport, energy and industry, and forest protection.

Their goal is to achieve the reduction that will allow the increase of the planet’s temperature to one and a half degrees Celsius, that is, the goal set by the scientists.

In this context, China is committed to gradually and rapidly reducing “coal consumption” during the period 2026-2030.

The Chinese negotiator said that “both countries recognize that there is a gap between the existing effort and the objectives of the Paris Agreement, so we will jointly strengthen our efforts and cooperation on Paris to accelerate a green and low to carbon transition “.

Mr Kerry, for his part, said: “The two largest economies in the world have agreed to work together on emissions in this crucial decade. “This is a roadmap for our countries and for our future cooperation.”

He even likened the announced climate cooperation with China to the US agreements to reduce its nuclear arsenal during the Cold War.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke of “an important step in the right direction”.

The 196 governments plus the EU represented in Glasgow are trying to reach an agreement by Friday, when COP26 ends.

The draft agreement refers to the need to “review and strengthen” before the end of 2022 the national emission reduction targets by 2030, as well as to “accelerate the phasing out of coal use and fossil fuel subsidies”.

This is the first time that explicit reference has been made to the abolition of coal and the financing of fossil fuel projects at a United Nations climate conference, with observers expecting reactions from countries such as Saudi Arabia.