US-China rivalry ‘threatens to undermine further action on fighting climate change’

Name: COP26: Obama calls out China, Russia for ‘dangerous’ lack of urgency about cutting emissions
Uploaded: 2021-11-11T13:01:53.000Z
Duration: 1 min 52 s
Description: COP26: Obama calls out China, Russia for ‘dangerous’ lack of urgency about cutting emissions

A joint declaration between the two sides received a cautious welcome but climate policy experts fear ongoing tensions limit the room for further agreement

The two countries agreed a series of steps to tackle global warming, but have not committed to stronger targets on reducing emissions by 2030

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The two sides did not agree on strengthening emissions targets — a key measure if the goal of limited the rise in global temperatures is to be achieved. Photo: AFP

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Published: 9:01pm, 11 Nov 2021Updated: 11:48pm, 11 Nov 2021

The joint declaration on fighting climate change between the United States and China has prevented a “worst case” scenario of a “decoupling over climate” but observers and activists warned that their ongoing rivalry threatened further cooperation in this area.

In an announcement two days before the end of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, the two countries promised to cooperate on forming regulatory frameworks to reduce emissions in the next few years, cut methane emissions, protect forests and improve the exchange of technology and information.

Li Shuo, a global policy adviser for Greenpeace China, said the joint statement would set the tone for the Glasgow summit’s final decision.

“The joint statement creates a cooperative spirit between the world’s two largest emitters. It prevents the worst – a US-China decoupling on climate action,” he said.

Kelly Sims Gallagher, director of the climate policy lab at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in the US, said the announcement is “indeed important and the significance is that it happened at all”.

“The fact the two countries could find a way to release a joint statement at a time when the bilateral relationship is so strained sends an energising signal to the COP26 negotiators because it demonstrates that these two major emitters can still work together,” she said.

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COP26: Obama calls out China, Russia for ‘dangerous’ lack of urgency about cutting emissions

Officials from both nations raised the prospect of further cooperation, with US climate envoy John Kerry comparing it to talks between the US and Soviet Union on scaling down their nuclear arsenals during the Cold War.