Thursday, November 16, 2023

'Alarmed' By Climate Change, U.S. And China Forge New Partnership To Tackle Fossil Fuels

Nick Visser
Wed, November 15, 2023 

The U.S. and China — the world’s two largest emitters of greenhouse gas emissions — agreed Tuesday to work to dramatically expand renewable energy in the hopes of phasing out fossil fuels.

The State Department released a statement announcing the new cooperation plan after months of negotiations between White House climate envoy John Kerry and his Chinese counterpart, Xie Zhenhua. It represents a major effort to see both nations dramatically ramp up efforts to address climate change and the first time China has agreed to set targets to cut emissions for its economy, The New York Times reports.

“Both countries support the G20 Leaders Declaration to pursue efforts to triple renewable energy capacity globally by 2030 and intend to sufficiently accelerate renewable energy deployment in their respective economies,” the pledge says, noting that doing so would “accelerate the substitution for coal, oil and gas generation.”

Beijing, the world’s largest carbon polluter, also agreed to set reduction targets for all greenhouse gas emissions, not just carbon dioxide. Other gases, namely methane, represent a smaller proportion of overall greenhouse gas emissions but are far more potent at trapping heat in the atmosphere.

In statements Tuesday, the two countries said they were “alarmed by the best available scientific findings” and remained committed to the landmark Paris Climate Agreement. That pledge, from 2015, saw almost every nation in the world agree to try and keep the planet from warming more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

“The United States and China recognize that the climate crisis has increasingly affected countries around the world,” the statement reads. “They are aware of the important role they play in terms of both national responses and working together cooperatively to address the goals of the Paris Agreement and promote multilateralism.”

White House climate envoy John Kerry and his Chinese counterpart, Xie Zhenhua, spent months negotiating the terms of the agreement.

White House climate envoy John Kerry and his Chinese counterpart, Xie Zhenhua, spent months negotiating the terms of the agreement.

The statements were released a day before President Joe Biden is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. While the agreement does not include firm targets, it does note that the U.S. and China will “immediately” begin dialogue to set them.

Scientists agree that a 1.5 degree level of warming would set off catastrophic levels of planetary change, from melting sea ice and the loss of permafrost to a sharp increase in severe weather and heatwaves.

The planet has already warmed 1.2 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times.

The statement comes just two weeks before the world’s climate envoys are set to convene in Dubai for the United Nations’ 28th climate conference, known as COP28. The U.S. also on Tuesday released its latest National Climate Assessment, which found climate change is already impacting Americans in every corner of the nation with “far-reaching and worsening” might.

“Anyone who willfully denies the impact of climate change is condemning the American people to a very dangerous future. Impacts are only going to get worse, more frequent, more ferocious and more costly,” Biden said during the report’s unveiling, per The Associated Press. “None of this is inevitable.”

US, China agree to bolster renewables in effort to replace fossil fuels

Rachel Frazin
Wed, November 15, 2023



China and the U.S., the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters, reached a climate agreement late Tuesday that includes an effort to replace fossil fuels with renewables.

The agreement says both countries plan to speed up renewable development over the next seven years in order to “accelerate the substitution for coal, oil and gas generation.”

The two parties therefore anticipate their power sector emissions peaking this decade.

The Group of 20, of which the U.S. and China are both part, said earlier in the year that it would hope to see renewable energy tripled globally by 2030, but that language did not explicitly highlight renwables as a replacement for fossil fuels and did not mention oil or natural gas.

The agreement comes ahead of a meeting on Wednesday between President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the first time the leaders are speaking face-to-face in almost a year amid tensions on a range of issues.

Both countries also agreed to advance five large-scale projects that aim to capture and store carbon that would otherwise be emitted by power plants or other large pollution sources by 2030. Carbon capture is controversial in the U.S., with some opponents arguing that it extends the life of fossil fuels when they prefer a shift toward renewables and have fears about safety issues related to carbon pipelines.

Washington and Beijing also agreed to work together on reducing emissions of methane, nitrous oxide and hydrofluorocarbons — greenhouse gases that are less common but more potent than carbon dioxide.

They also said they would advance efforts to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030.

Climate change: US and China take 'small but important steps'

Matt McGrath - Environment correspondent
Wed, November 15, 2023 

Solar panels

The US and China have agreed on measures to tackle climate change but stopped short of committing to end fossil fuels, a joint statement said.

The world's biggest carbon emitters will step up co-operation on methane and support global efforts to triple renewable energy by 2030.

But the document is silent on the use of coal, and the future of fossil energy.

Observers said it was a positive sign ahead of a UN climate summit.

The joint statement comes as the presidents of both countries prepare to meet in California, with climate change representing one of the few areas of potential progress.

For over a year US diplomats have been trying to find a way forward with China after Beijing suspended climate talks after the visit of US Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan.

Last week those efforts saw US climate envoy John Kerry meet with his Chinese counterpart, Xie Zhenhua, for three days of negotiations that have lead to this agreed position.

The agreement was forged between the two countries' climate envoys, John Kerry and Xie Zhenhua

Both countries reaffirmed their commitment to a global tripling of renewable energy this decade, as previously agreed at this year's G20 meeting in India.

Both also stated that there would be "meaningful absolute power sector emission reductions" by 2030.

However, a reduction in the use of coal isn't mentioned in the document and there's no discussion of the ending of fossil fuels, something that the president of the UN climate conference, known as COP28, has said is a key focus for the meeting.

"It's small but important steps on climate change," said Bernice Lee, a distinguished Fellow at Chatham House and an expert on China.

"But progress on fossil fuels wasn't what I expected to see, as they both have constraints," she told BBC News.

"My suspicion is that it has proven to be too difficult to find the form of language that works for both. But nonetheless, I think it's good that they have a statement that's focused on the things they agree on, which is, obviously, the renewables and methane."

That focus on methane is seen as important for the world as the gas is an extremely potent warming chemical in the short term.

When countries agreed the Global Methane Pledge at COP26 in Glasgow, and aimed to reduce emissions of methane by 30% by 2030, China wasn't among the signatories.

The world's second largest economy doesn't currently count methane as a warming gas in its submissions to the UN.

But according to the statement, the two countries will now include all greenhouse gases including methane in their next round of national climate plans.

"This announcement is a major step because China is the world's largest methane emitter and serious actions to curb this gas is essential for slowing global warming in the near-term," said David Waskow from the World Resources Institute.

The two countries have also said they will jointly host a methane and non-CO2 gas summit at COP28.

The statement will certainly boost the mood of delegates preparing to attend COP28 in Dubai from 30 November.

Amid warnings from scientists that 2023 will be the warmest year on record and with political divisions over Gaza, Ukraine and many other issues, hopes for significant progress at the gathering have been muted.

The fact that even the big divisions between China and the US can be overcome for the sake of the planet is bound to have an impact on others.

"While the two of them can't deliver everything, the US and China coming together to find a way to try and co-operate makes it harder for other countries to hide behind superpower rivalries," said Bernice Lee.

"It certainly sets a better atmosphere for COP28 than there was before."

US, China advance climate cooperation following California talks

Updated Wed, November 15, 2023 

U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry meets with his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua in Beijing

By David Stanway and Valerie Volcovici

SINGAPORE/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States and China will back a new global renewables target and work together on methane and plastic pollution, they said in a joint statement on Wednesday after a meeting to find common ground ahead of COP28 talks in Dubai later this month.

Climate envoys John Kerry and Xie Zhenhua, meeting in Sunnylands, California, from Nov. 4-8, agreed to revive a bilateral climate working group that will discuss areas of cooperation, the joint statement said, though differences remain on issues like phasing out fossil fuels.

"The Sunnylands statement is a timely effort of aligning the United States and China ahead of COP28," said Li Shuo, incoming director of the China Climate Hub at the Asia Society.

Li described the relationship between the world's two biggest greenhouse gas emitters as "a precondition for meaningful global progress" and said the Sunnylands agreement would help "stabilise the politics" ahead of the Dubai talks.

The re-launch of the working group marks the normalisation of the climate relationship between the two countries following a hiatus triggered in 2022 by the visit of former House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, a self-governing island that China claims as its own.

Partnership between the world's two biggest emitting countries is seen as a crucial element to securing a consensus agreement at COP28.

For the first time, China - the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions - will include non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gases like nitrogen oxide in its 2035 national climate plan as well as specific actions to curb methane emissions, major sources of global emissions.

"This implies that China needs to do a lot more to be in line with ambitious global goals," said Joanna Lewis, a professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service.

It also focuses on key areas of cooperation, including abating methane and boosting efficiency and the "circular economy", and exchanging information on policies and technologies to reduce emissions. The two sides also promised to work together to curb forest loss and plastic pollution.

"WORK CUT OUT"

China's efforts to cut its own carbon emissions will be in sharp focus at COP28, with the country still approving new coal-fired power plants in a bid to ensure energy security.

The United States and China said they support a declaration by G20 leaders to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030, and also agreed to "accelerate the substitution for coal, oil and gas generation," which would result in "meaningful absolute power sector emission reductions" this decade.

That falls short of calling for the phasing out of fossil fuels, a goal that China has described as "unrealistic". However, a report released earlier this week said that record levels of new renewable installations in China may help "all but guarantee" a decline in China's CO2 emissions next year.

Both sides also agreed to include methane in their 2035 climate goals - the first time China has made such a pledge - and committed to advancing "at least five" large-scale cooperation projects in carbon capture, utilisation and storage by the end of the decade.

The joint statement said that the United States, China and COP28 host the United Arab Emirates will hold a Methane and Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases Summit at COP28.

Li said COP28 still "has its work cut out", particularly on fossil fuels.

"China also needs to consider what further ambition can be brought to COP," he added. "Stopping the approval of new coal power projects is a good next step."

(Reporting by David Stanway; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Nick Macfie)

US and China announce cooperation to reduce methane, plastic pollution

Michelle De Pacina
Wed, November 15, 2023 

[Source]

The United States and China have announced a joint agreement in addressing methane and plastic pollution ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

How it happened: The agreement was reached during a meeting between climate envoys John Kerry and Xie Zhenhua from Nov. 4-7 in Sunnylands, California. Reviving a bilateral climate working group, they agreed to cooperate and focus on areas such as reducing methane emissions, enhancing efficiency, promoting the circular economy and exchanging information on emission reduction policies and technologies.

The joint statement reflects a crucial effort to re-align the two major greenhouse gas emitters before the 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28). The working group’s relaunch comes after a year of strained relations; Beijing previously cut off climate talks with Washington in response to former House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan.

What they are saying: Both nations pledged to support the G20 leaders’ declaration to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030 and expressed commitment to economy-wide reductions of all greenhouse gasses by 2035. The agreement marked China’s first commitment to including methane in its 2035 climate goals and collaborating on large-scale carbon capture, utilization and storage projects.

“The United States and China recognize that the climate crisis has increasingly affected countries around the world,” the Sunnylands Statement on Enhancing Cooperation to Address the Climate Crisis reads.

“Both countries stress the importance of COP 28 in responding meaningfully to the climate crisis during this critical decade and beyond. They are aware of the important role they play in terms of both national responses and working together cooperatively to address the goals of the Paris Agreement and promote multilateralism. They will work together and with other Parties to the Convention and the Paris Agreement to rise up to one of the greatest challenges of our time for present and future generations of humankind.”

Divided on fossil fuels: The agreement is seen as a crucial step before the upcoming climate talks. However, the statement stopped short of endorsing the phasing out of fossil fuels, with China deeming the goal “unrealistic.” As such, challenges remain, with China being urged to halt the approval of new coal power projects.

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