US China Paris Climate Deal, US China Join Deal

KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS

US, China To Sign Paris Climate Pledge ASAP - The U.S. and China won’t skip a beat in signing the global climate change agreement reached in Paris late last year. The world’s two largest emitters of greenhouse gases said Thursday they would formally take the pledge April 22, the first day countries can sign it.

U.S. President Barack Obama and China’s President Xi Jinping issued a joint statement announcing their plans to enlist “as early as possible this year” and urged other countries to follow suit. The U.S. and China have worked jointly on climate issues since November 2014, when the two presidents first announced commitments to curb their nations’ respective carbon footprints.

“Our two countries, with this joint statement, are making an important step forward in building on the success of Paris by urging and encouraging swift entry into force of that agreement,” Brian Deese, an Obama senior adviser, said on a press call Thursday.

Almost 200 countries agreed in December to adopt domestic plans for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. They also set a common goal to limit the rise in global average temperatures to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels. The United Nations-backed agreement arrived after two decades of negotiations that failed to result in firm commitments.

The U.S. and China for years were partly to blame for the lack of progress at U.N. climate talks. Both countries resisted international pressure to set limits on their emissions, arguing that such a move could jeopardize economic growth. The Obama administration was reluctant to set aggressive targets unless major competing economies such as China did the same. China and other emerging economies such as India argued that the richest nations, which have historically spewed the most carbon pollution, should first commit to stricter standards.

Obama and Xi broke their stalemate in late 2014 by jointly announcing emissions targets. Obama pledged to cut America’s emissions by as much as 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. And Xi proposed to curtail China’s carbon output so that emissions would peak “around 2030.”