Update | China, California to work on climate change after Trump pulls out of Paris agreement

California said it will cooperate with China on clean technology, emissions trading and other “climate-positive” opportunities as it bids to fill the gap left after President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris climate accord last week.

The government of California and China’s Ministry of Science and Technology will work together on developing and commercialising know-how on carbon capture and storage, clean energy, as well as advanced information technology that could help cut greenhouse gas emissions, according to a Tuesday statement.

President Trump announced last week that he would pull the United States out of the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change, a move branded as “insane” by California governor Jerry Brown, who is visiting China this week.

The decision to withdraw was seen to have handed the political and diplomatic initiative to China, which has continued to pledge its unqualified support for the Paris accord.

Brown told reporters on the sidelines of a clean energy forum in Beijing on Tuesday that the failure of leadership from the United States was “only temporary” and said science and the market would be required to get past it.