China and the United States have agreed to intensify discussions and exchanges on their individual energy transition objectives and policies, with a particular focus on methane emissions control. This decision follows a meeting between the two countries' working group on climate action led by John Podesta, U.S.' senior advisor for international climate policy, and China's Special Envoy for Climate Change Liu Zhenmin. The discussions centered on areas identified in the Sunnylands Statement, such as energy transition, methane and other non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gases, circular economy and resource efficiency, deforestation, and promoting low-carbon provinces/states and cities.
The Sunnylands statement, which originated from a meeting between China's former special envoy for climate change Xie Zhenhua and U.S. counterpart John Kerry, highlighted the commitment to cooperation on multilateral issues related to the upcoming COP29 United Nations climate change conference in Baku, Azerbaijan. Both parties shared insights and challenges regarding their climate policies and actions to effectively address the climate crisis, including specific targets like the U.S.' goal for 100 percent clean power by 2035 and China's plan to phase down coal consumption during its 15th Five Year Plan period. The collaboration aims to enhance technical and policy exchanges to achieve their respective climate goals.
Additionally, the media release from China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment outlined plans for the two countries to host a second Methane and Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases Summit at COP29, building on the success of the first Summit held during COP28 in Dubai. The collaboration extends to promoting bilateral cooperation, conducting capacity building efforts on deploying abatement technologies, and improving measurement, reporting, and verification systems for significant methane emission control and reduction measures. Both nations also emphasize the importance of engaging in technical cooperation and capacity-building for addressing other non-CO2 greenhouse gases, including industrial nitrous oxide and tropospheric ozone precursors.
5 Comments
Karamba
It's encouraging to see both countries acknowledging the importance of addressing methane emissions.
Rotfront
This agreement is just empty words. There's no guarantee either country will actually follow through with the commitments.
Matzomaster
This collaboration is just another example of the US and China greenwashing their polluting industries.
Rotfront
This is a positive step forward in international cooperation on climate change.
Africa
Holding a Methane and Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases Summit is pointless without any concrete action plans.